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Fuel Tax Overview There are only 3 simple and easy steps to start using FLI Fuel and Mileage Software:
After the installation and initial setup, you may begin entering your trip sheet and fuel purchases information. The system uses this information to produce your IFTA Quarterly Return. You also have a variety of other reports available to help you analyze your Fuel and Mileage information. The following provides you an overview of the main processes and features available, along with sample screen images. Click on any image for a larger view. NOTE: Full size images of the following thumbnails are best viewed when selecting the image for which your Display Properties are set (e.g. 1024x768 or 800x600). If the full size image appears "fuzzy", use the alternate image. POWER UNITS The following screen (Image 1) is used to maintain your power unit (tractors/trucks) information. The fields in yellow are required, all other fields are optional. You must assign a code to each unit that is unique to all other units. Normally, the unit number is used for this code. You also must provide a description for the unit, and the fuel type (default is Diesel). There is a wide array of other information you can record about each unit, such as make, model, serial number, purchase date and price, equipment, tire sizes, and much, much more – all the way down to the paint color and lettering. This extra information is purely optional, but it does give you a central repository for tracking specific information about each of your units. You can use Power Unit Reports to print this information, which is very useful when providing information to insurance companies and others.
(1024x768) (800x600) Image 1 – Power Unit Maintenance (click on image to enlarge)
NAVIGATIONAL MENUS The following screen (Image 2) shows you how easy it is to navigate through the system. Simply click on a Menu item at the top of the screen, and move to the desired activity you want to perform. The example highlights the selection you would use to enter your trip sheets, and also shows other transactions available in the Fuel Mileage software.
(1024x768) (800x600) Image 2 – Menu Navigation (click on image to enlarge)
DRIVER TRIP SHEETS The following screen (Image 3) is an example of how simple it is to enter your driver trip sheet information. You start by entering the date range of the trip, the power unit number, and ending odometer reading for the trip. If you previously entered a trip for this unit, the starting odometer will automatically fill with the ending odometer reading from the last trip. The remaining miles shows the difference between ending and starting odometer readings, and indicates how many miles you must allocate to states. The list at the bottom is where you enter date, state, and miles. If your driver supplies odometer readings when he crosses state lines, you can enter this reading and the system will calculate the miles from the previous odometer reading. Status is an optional field, but can be used to indicate Loaded, Empty, Toll, etc. Driver and Trailer are also optional entry fields. As you enter miles traveled in each state, the system automatically reduces the remaining miles on the trip. After all miles for all states have been recorded, the remaining miles should be 0. If you have remaining miles after recording all state miles, you must determine if a mistake has been made, or make an adjustment in your state miles or odometer readings to obtain 0 remaining miles. When your trip entry is complete, you can click the Multi Fuel Purchases button at the bottom of the screen to enter fuel purchased during this trip.
(1024x768) (800x600) Image 3 – Trip Sheet Entry (click on image to enlarge)
FUEL PURCHASES The following screen (Image 4) shows that
you can enter up to 36 fuel purchases for a trip.
Enter the purchase date, fuel vendor, and gallons.
Fuel vendor represents the state where you purchased the fuel.
You can create your own list of fuel vendors that represent specific
filling stations (e.g. Dixie,
(1024x768) (800x600) Image 4 – Multi Fuel Purchases (click on image to enlarge)
FUEL TAX RATES Fuel Tax Rates must be updated each quarter prior to creating your IFTA Quarterly Return. FLI offers you 3 ways to update tax rates: 1) You can manually enter rates for each state you traveled through during the quarter; 2) You can copy rates from a previous quarter, and then modify rates that changed; or 3) You can subscribe to our Update Service to download and import all United States and Canada tax rates for every IFTA jurisdiction. The subscription rate for the Update Service is only $8.00 per quarter. The following screen (Image 5) shows the form used to manage your IFTA Tax Rates. You will use this form to enter, change, copy, purge, or import regular and surcharge tax rates for states traveled during the quarter. This is normally performed once per quarter after all your state miles and fuel purchases have been entered and prior to processing your IFTA Quarterly Return.
(1024x768) (800x600) Image 5 - Fuel Tax Rates (click on image to enlarge)
IFTA QUARTERLY RETURN The following screen (Image 6) shows how easy it is to create your IFTA Return after you have entered all your state miles and fuel for the quarter. When creating a new return, all of the required information should automatically appear. Enter the balance or credit from a previous quarter (if you were notified by IFTA that you have a balance or credit), and then click the Create IFTA button. The system will search quickly and accurately calculate your IFTA Quarterly Return. If you are filing beyond the deadline, the system will automatically calculate late fees and penalties. When complete, use the Print button to print your Quarterly Return. Simply sign and date the printed return and send it to your state Department of Revenue (along with a check if taxes are owed).
(1024x768) (800x600) Image 6 - Create IFTA Quarterly Return (click on image to enlarge)
PRINTED IFTA QUARTERLY RETURN The following screen (Image 7) shows an example of a printed return. The example was created using sample data that is not an accurate representation of a real trucking company, so don't pay much attention to the numbers that appear. The purpose of the example is to show you that the format of the report is identical to the pre-printed form you receive from your IFTA state jurisdiction. Our formatted report has been approved by your state Department of Revenue as an acceptable form for submission. NOTE: the following images are in PDF format and require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.
ILLINOIS INDIANA Image 7 - IFTA Quarterly Return (click on image to enlarge)
REPORTING The following screen (Image 8) shows a listing of the many reports available to help you manage your fuel & mileage and fuel tax information. These reports allow you to analyze your individual unit miles per gallon, along with company and fleet summaries for miles and fuel. You can view breakdowns of state miles and fuel by trip sheets, units, fleets, and overall company totals. All reports can be generated for any time frame (e.g. day, week, month, quarter, year). Fuel tax reports calculate fuel taxes by individual power unit, giving you an easy means to determine taxes owed to you by owner operators running under your IFTA authority. Other reports can be generated to view power unit information, fuel vendors, tax rates, IRP miles, etc. Reports are extremely useful to easily complete Property Tax, Ad Valorem, and Road Use forms, and Non-tax Rebate forms issued by individual state jurisdictions (e.g. Kentucky, Oregon, etc.)
Image 8 - Listing of reports (click on image to enlarge) |
Questions or problems regarding this web site should be directed to webadmin-at-flisolutions.com
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