If your trucks are based in New Jersey and run into other states, New Jersey is where you get your IFTA license and decals and where you file your fuel tax returns every quarter. The International Fuel Tax Agreement is the same in every member state, but the paperwork is handled by each base state in its own way. In New Jersey it is handled by the Motor Vehicle Commission (NJ MVC), Motor Carrier Services.
This guide covers who needs a New Jersey IFTA account, how to open one, what the quarterly return asks for and what happens when it is late. It is based on the NJ MVC IFTA page, the NJ IFTA Licensee Manual and the MVC IFTA FAQ. Rules and forms change, so check those pages before you file.
Which trucks need IFTA in New Jersey
IFTA applies to “qualified motor vehicles” that leave their base state. The MVC IFTA page lists them as a vehicle that:
- has two axles and a gross vehicle weight over 26,000 lbs, or
- has three or more axles, regardless of weight, or
- runs in a combination whose total gross vehicle weight is over 26,000 lbs.
Government vehicles, vehicles with restricted plates and recreational vehicles are excepted. If your trucks never leave the state, you do not need it. The FAQ answers that question in one word: “No.”
A carrier that qualifies but does not want an IFTA license has to buy trip permits instead, in New Jersey and in every other member state it enters. The Licensee Manual puts the New Jersey permit at 96 hours. Our guide to apportioned plates in New Jersey covers that permit next to the IRP trip permit, so we will not repeat it here.
When New Jersey is your base jurisdiction
You license with one state, your base jurisdiction, and that state collects the tax and passes each member state its share. The Licensee Manual says New Jersey may be your base jurisdiction if your vehicles are registered in New Jersey, your vehicle records are kept or can be made available in New Jersey, and at least one of your vehicles travels within New Jersey. Any carrier based in New Jersey that runs a qualified vehicle in at least one other IFTA state “must file an IFTA License application in New Jersey.”
IFTA is separate from your plates. The FAQ says IRP plates mean you need an IFTA decal, but the decal “does not have to match the state indicated on your plates.” Cancelling one account does not cancel the other: if you close your IFTA account, you have to tell the IRP unit separately to close IRP.
How to open a New Jersey IFTA account
New accounts are opened on paper. The MVC new account page says: “Creating a new account can only be done through the mail addressed to NJMVC, P.O. Box 133, Trenton, N.J. 08666-0133 or in person at our Trenton Office.” The steps:
- Fill in the New Account Application (IFTA-1) completely, and sign and date it at the bottom.
- Add proof of who you are. For a business name, MVC wants your Federal Tax ID number, business name and address on a pre-printed IRS form or a New Jersey Certificate of Authority. For a personal name, a valid New Jersey driver’s license whose details match the application.
- Add proof of address if it has changed. MVC accepts a current gas, electric or telephone bill that shows the full company name and address. A cell phone bill is not accepted.
- Pay the fee. It is $10.00 per vehicle at the time of application. By mail, send a check or money order with a copy of your proof of Federal Tax ID number.
- Add a power of attorney if someone else applies for you. MVC requires a notarized power of attorney form when the customer is not present, and the application has a box for the name on that form.
The IFTA-1 asks for a Federal Employer Identification Number or a Social Security Number, your legal and trade names, business and mailing addresses, business type, the fuel types you use, whether you keep bulk fuel storage, and whether you have held an IFTA license elsewhere and if it was ever suspended or revoked. If your vehicles run under a lease, it also asks whether the lessor or the lessee reports the fuel tax. The federal number on the form is not the 15-digit number MVC issues to businesses, which is also called an EIN. Our guide to the New Jersey Corporation Code, now called an EIN explains the difference.
The manual also says MVC will not issue credentials if your current fuel use tax account is delinquent, or if your license in another IFTA state has been suspended or revoked and is still in that status.
License and decals
Each licensee gets one IFTA license. The manual says the license or a photocopy of it “must be maintained in the cab of each qualified motor vehicle.” Each qualified vehicle gets two decals, one on the outside of the passenger side of the power unit and one on the outside of the driver side. Running without the license or without the decals properly displayed can mean buying a trip permit and paying a fine.
Need decals for a truck you add later? MVC sells additional decals at $10 per set, by mail with the request on company letterhead, or online if you order no more than two sets. If your IFTA account is not tied to New Jersey apportioned plates, that page asks for notarized leases too. If a decal goes missing from a truck, replacement decals are also $10 per set.
Licenses and decals expire on December 31 every year. For renewal, the grace period and the online renewal rules, see our IFTA renewal guide for 2027.
IFTA fuel tax reporting
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Get StartedFiling the quarterly return in New Jersey
The MVC quarterly tax page gives two ways to file. You can file online through the Motor Carrier Services login, using the customer number and PIN printed on your most recent MVC statement, and pay by credit card or online checking. Or you can print the paper return and the current tax rates and mail them in. Either way you need:
- total miles traveled
- total gallons purchased
- miles traveled by jurisdiction
- gallons purchased by jurisdiction
- average fleet mpg
Count only fuel used by vehicles on the road. The FAQ says “Machinery fuel must be extracted from the totals.” If this is your first return, our walkthrough on how to file your first IFTA quarterly return goes through the numbers step by step.
The due dates are:
| Quarter | Due date |
|---|---|
| January to March | April 30 |
| April to June | July 31 |
| July to September | October 31 |
| October to December | January 31 |
Three New Jersey rules matter here:
- Paid in full is what counts. MVC says a return “not filed and paid in full by the due date” is late, and the FAQ adds: “The date that the tax return is paid in full is the filing date.” A paper return must be postmarked by the due date. If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the next business day is the due date.
- File even with nothing to report. The manual says a return “must be filed even if the licensee does not operate or purchase taxable fuel” in a quarter. With a current decal you file all four quarters, and if you close the business you still file up to all four, depending on when you close.
- The fourth quarter can cost you your plates. The MVC IFTA page says that failing to file the fourth quarter report for the year before “will result in the suspension of both your IFTA and IRP credentials.”
MVC sends the return form at least 30 days before the due date, but the manual is clear that not getting it “does not release the licensee from reporting obligations.”
Late returns, penalties and interest
Under the Licensee Manual, the penalty for not filing a return on time is “the greater of fifty dollars ($50) or ten percent (10%) of the net tax due to all member jurisdictions.” Interest is added on top at 2% a year above the federal underpayment rate in Section 6621(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code, charged by the month or part of a month until paid. Delinquent accounts can be suspended.
Correcting a return late is still late. The FAQ says an amended return filed after the due date “is considered late, and penalties and interest must be included in the payment.”
Credits and refunds
When a return ends in a credit, the MVC refund page says credits are carried forward unless you ask for a refund, and an overpayment stays a credit if the refund box is not marked. To get the money back, mail a signed letter on company letterhead asking for the full credit amount. Credits under $100.00 are not refunded and can only be used to pay later IFTA returns. The manual says credits expire four years after the due date or the filing date of the return, whichever is later.
Records New Jersey expects you to keep
Keep the records behind each return for four years from its due date or the date you filed it, whichever is later. For mileage, the manual accepts the Individual Vehicle Mileage Record used for IRP, or a trip report with:
- start and end dates of the trip
- origin and destination, with city and state
- routes traveled
- beginning and ending odometer readings
- total trip miles and miles by jurisdiction
- vehicle unit number and licensee name
Fuel receipts need the date, the seller’s name and address, gallons, fuel type, price per gallon, the unit or plate number of the vehicle fueled, and the purchaser’s signature. Invoices and credit card receipts are accepted, but receipts “which contain alterations or erasures will not be accepted.”
Using a filing service
New Jersey lets someone else prepare your returns, with one condition from the manual: “If a licensee uses a reporting service for motor fuel use tax reporting, a Power of Attorney must be placed on file annually at the time of renewal.” The same section adds that the power of attorney “does not relieve the licensee of their legal obligations.” The tax and the deadlines stay yours.
Questions on a specific account go to NJ MVC Motor Carrier Services at (609) 633-9400, option 1, or mcscustomerservice@mvc.nj.gov.
