Notice of Routine Audit
When the audit letter comes, the answer is a download.
An IFTA audit rebuilds a full year of miles — state by state, truck by truck. You can reconstruct it from a shoebox of fuel receipts, or you can hit export. FleetCollect logs every mile in the background and hands you the exact XLS, XLSX, and CSV files the auditor asks for.
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Auditor’s Document Request
Distance & fuel records — full year
- Dates & GPS coordinates
- Distance by jurisdiction
- Route of travel
- Vehicle unit numbers
- Fuel purchases by state
- Exported to XLSX / CSV
Preliminary findings
Audits aren’t about wrongdoing. They’re about records.
Your base state can audit you at random. The question is never whether you drove the miles — it’s whether you can prove where you drove them. That’s where a paper trail falls apart and a GPS record wins.
- ~3% a year
- Every IFTA jurisdiction must audit about 3% of its accounts annually — and selection is often random.
- 4 years back
- You must keep distance and fuel records for four years — exactly how far an audit can reach.
- Estimated
- Miles you can’t document can be estimated for you — rarely in your favor.
Everything they ask for — already captured
These are the exact record elements a state IFTA auditor requests. Here’s how FleetCollect answers each one — captured automatically, logged in seconds, or carried on the receipt itself.
Distance Records
- Automatic
Dates
Every trip and every GPS point is timestamped automatically.
- Automatic
GPS coordinates
A continuous latitude/longitude breadcrumb is recorded the whole trip.
- Automatic
Route of travel
The full GPS trail is stored per trip — the exact path the truck took.
- Automatic
Total distance
Miles are calculated from the GPS track for every trip.
- Automatic
Distance by jurisdiction
High-resolution state-line detection assigns every mile to the correct state — the core of an IFTA return.
- Automatic
Origin / destination
Start and end city + state are detected from GPS at the ends of each trip.
- Automatic
Vehicle unit number
Every trip and fuel stop is tied to a specific truck in your fleet.
- You log it
Odometer readings
Enter start/end odometer per trip in seconds — stored right alongside the GPS miles.
Fuel Records
- Logged
Date of purchase
Logged when you add the stop — or read straight off the receipt photo.
- Logged
Seller name & location
Station name plus city and state (the state that earns your tax credit).
- Logged
Gallons purchased
Entered per stop — a required field so nothing slips through.
- Logged
Price per gallon & total
Enter either one; FleetCollect fills in the other automatically.
- Automatic
Vehicle unit number
Attached to the truck on the active trip — no extra step.
- On the receipt
Seller address, fuel type, receipt
Snap the receipt and the image is stored with the stop — the seller’s full address and fuel type ride along on the ticket itself.
Note: FleetCollect tracks GPS-based mileage with high-resolution state-line detection. Odometer figures are the ones you enter; distances are computed from the GPS track, not the odometer.
One export. Every format they accept.
“GPS data must be accessible in spreadsheet format such as XLS, XLSX, CSV or delimited text file. Other formats are not acceptable.”
CSV
Per-jurisdiction summary plus a daily miles-by-state breakdown.
XLSX
Multi-sheet workbook — jurisdictions, trips, by-vehicle, and raw GPS points.
Clean summary + jurisdiction table for your records and your filing.
Inside the audit workbook
The XLSX export lays your year out the way an auditor reads it
Jurisdictions
Miles, gallons, tax rate, and net tax for every state.
Trips
Each trip with per-state miles, state crossings (“CA→NV at Mile 150”), highways traveled, and odometer.
By Vehicle
Miles per state broken out for each truck in the fleet.
GPS Points
The raw lat/long/timestamp breadcrumb — the ground truth behind every mile.
Audit prep becomes an export, not a project
Drive
Start a trip and put the phone down. FleetCollect logs your route and state-by-state miles in the background.
Fuel up
Add a fuel stop and snap the receipt. Gallons, price, state, and the receipt image are saved to the trip.
Export
Pick a quarter or any date range and download CSV, XLSX, or PDF — ready to file or hand to an auditor.
Exhibit A — Driver App
The record, captured as you drive
Every screen is writing to the file: start a trip, watch the miles rack up by state, log fuel at the pump, and pull the quarter — the exact data an auditor asks for, built on the phone in your cup holder.
Also on file
The same records file your quarterly return
Audit-ready isn’t a separate feature — it’s a byproduct of tracking every quarter right. FleetCollect rolls your trips into a quarterly worksheet: miles per state, fuel per state, fleet MPG, and the net tax owed or credited in each jurisdiction (including the IN, KY, and VA surcharges). You file from clean numbers, and the detail behind them is already there if anyone ever asks.
Start tracking freeIFTA audit questions, answered straight
01What triggers an IFTA audit?
You don’t have to do anything wrong to get picked. Every IFTA jurisdiction is required to audit about 3% of its accounts each year, and many are selected at random. The rest are flagged by their returns — a fleet MPG that’s implausibly high or low, mileage that swings wildly quarter to quarter, late or amended filings, or miles that don’t line up with the fuel purchased.
02How far back can an IFTA audit go?
Four years. You’re required to keep your distance and fuel records for four years after the return’s due date or filing date, whichever is later — and that’s exactly how far back an auditor can reach. A single audit usually covers four consecutive quarters (a full year) inside that window.
03Do GPS records satisfy an IFTA auditor?
Yes. GPS vehicle-tracking records are explicitly accepted, as long as they include the required elements — dates, coordinates, total distance, distance by jurisdiction, and the vehicle unit number — and can be handed over in a spreadsheet format like XLS, XLSX, or CSV. That is exactly what FleetCollect records as you drive and exports on demand.
04What if my records already have gaps?
Be honest with yourself: no app can reconstruct trips you never tracked. FleetCollect builds a clean, defensible record from the day you start, so the sooner you begin, the sooner your audit-exposed quarters are fully covered. For past gaps, document what you can — fuel receipts, trip sheets, toll and ELD data — and talk to a tax professional.
05I already run an ELD. Isn’t that enough for IFTA?
Not always. An ELD is built to prove hours of service; some offer an IFTA mileage summary, but many don’t produce per-state distance in the exportable spreadsheet an auditor asks for. FleetCollect is built specifically for IFTA — every mile is assigned to a state, and your quarter exports to CSV, XLSX, or PDF.
06How much does FleetCollect cost?
IFTA tracking starts at $14 a month with a 7-day free trial and no long-term commitment. The same record that files your quarterly return is the one you would hand an auditor, so you are not paying extra for a separate audit feature.
Keep reading
- The full IFTA audit guide → what to expect, start to finish.
- IFTA rules by state → rates, deadlines, filing rules for your base jurisdiction.
- How FleetCollect IFTA tracking works → features, pricing, and the free calculator.
Build the record before you need it
The best time to have an audit-proof mileage log is the day before the notice arrives. Start today and every mile from here is already documented.
7-day free trial · no long-term commitment