How to Get IFTA Stickers in PA: Application, Fee, and Renewal

To get IFTA stickers in PA, you file an IFTA License and Decal Application with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, pay $12 per qualified vehicle for the calendar year, and receive a license (cab card) plus two decals for each truck. The fastest route is the state’s myPATH online portal at mypath.pa.gov; a paper application mailed to the Bureau of Motor Fuel Taxes in Harrisburg works too but takes longer.¹

Confirm Your Vehicles Actually Need IFTA Decals

Pennsylvania requires IFTA credentials for any “qualified motor vehicle” operated in interstate or international commerce under the Motor Carriers Road Tax Act (75 Pa. C.S. Chapter 21). A vehicle is qualified if it has two axles and a gross or registered gross weight over 26,000 pounds, if it has three or more axles regardless of weight, or if it is used in combination and the combined weight exceeds 26,000 pounds.² That combination rule catches tractors that weigh under 26,000 pounds solo but push past it once a trailer is hooked up.

Pennsylvania exempts government-owned vehicles, political subdivision vehicles, school buses, buses used for passenger transportation, and recreational vehicles.³ It does not exempt farm-plated vehicles, dealer-plated vehicles, or tow trucks the way some states do. A farm truck that crosses state lines and meets the qualified vehicle test still needs IFTA credentials here.

One boundary worth naming: if your trucks never cross a state line, IFTA doesn’t apply at all. The whole program exists to apportion fuel tax among the jurisdictions where you drive.

What to Gather Before You Apply

The IFTA License and Decal Application (IFTA-200A) asks for a short list of items, and getting them right the first time avoids a returned application:

Your Federal Employer Identification Number, or Social Security Number if you’re a sole proprietor.
Your active USDOT number. The legal business name on the application must match what USDOT has on file exactly.
The fuel types your fleet uses: diesel, gasoline, propane, ethanol, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, or other alternatives. Each fuel carries a different tax rate on your quarterly returns, so this needs to be accurate.
The total number of qualified vehicles that need decals, because the fee is per vehicle.

You also have to certify that all of your tax accounts with the Commonwealth are in good standing. Any outstanding tax debt or delinquent filing will stall the application until it’s cleared.⁴

Submitting the Application

Online Through myPATH

Create or log into an account at mypath.pa.gov, go to the motor fuel tax section, upload the completed application, and pay the decal fee electronically. Online filings are processed faster because they skip mail transit and manual data entry.¹

By Mail

You can send a completed paper application with a check to the Bureau of Motor Fuel Taxes in Harrisburg. Expect a longer wait. Postal transit plus manual review consistently adds weeks compared with online filing, and anything illegible gets returned, which pushes the timeline out further.

What the $12 Fee Gets You

Pennsylvania charges $12 per vehicle per calendar year for IFTA decals.⁵ Once approved, each qualified vehicle gets:

An IFTA license, often called a cab card, showing your carrier is registered and in good standing across all member jurisdictions.
Two IFTA decals that must be displayed on the truck.

Both the license and the decals are valid January 1 through December 31 of the calendar year.⁶

Where the Decals Go and What Drivers Must Carry

Each vehicle gets two decals, and both go on the exterior of the cab, one on each side, visible enough for enforcement officers to see during roadside inspections and at weigh stations.⁷ Operating a qualified vehicle in Pennsylvania without valid IFTA decals is unlawful under 75 Pa. C.S. § 2102(d), and officers can require the driver to buy a temporary trip permit on the spot before continuing.⁶

A legible photocopy of the current IFTA license must be in the cab of every qualified vehicle during operation. The cab card is what proves to inspectors in other states that your fuel tax obligations are current. Without it, the driver faces the same outcome as missing decals: a trip permit purchase to keep moving.

If You Need to Operate Before the Decals Arrive

A temporary trip permit lets you operate legally without full IFTA credentials, whether you’re a new carrier waiting on your application or only occasionally cross into Pennsylvania. The state fee is $73 for a permit valid for five days, and that doesn’t include any processing or administrative charges from the permitting service you use to obtain it.⁸

At $73 per five-day window, trip permits add up fast. For any carrier making regular interstate runs, the $12-per-vehicle annual IFTA fee is cheaper by a wide margin.

Renewing Each Year

IFTA credentials expire December 31. Renewal applications for the following year must be filed with Pennsylvania before year-end. Carriers who renew on time get a two-month grace period covering January and February, during which they can operate on either the new credentials or the expiring ones while the new decals arrive.⁹

Starting March 1, only the current year’s decals are accepted. You can begin displaying the new year’s decals as early as November 1.¹⁰ Miss the renewal deadline before year-end and you lose the grace period entirely, meaning a trip permit is the only legal way to operate in January.

What You’re Signing Up For After the Stickers Arrive

The decals are the easy part. Once registered, the ongoing obligations are what actually determine whether your account stays in good standing.

Quarterly Returns

You file an IFTA tax return every quarter, even in quarters when you had no mileage. Pennsylvania’s 2026 deadlines:

First quarter (January–March): due April 30, 2026
Second quarter (April–June): due July 31, 2026
Third quarter (July–September): due November 2, 2026
Fourth quarter (October–December): due January 31, 2027

The third quarter is normally due October 31, but that date falls on a Saturday in 2026, which pushes it to the next business day.¹⁰ Each return reports total miles driven and fuel purchased in every jurisdiction. Late returns accrue interest at 9% annually for 2026, set at two percentage points above the IRS underpayment rate.¹¹

Records

Pennsylvania requires licensees to keep all supporting records for four years from the return’s filing date. For mileage, that means per-trip records of travel dates, origin and destination, route (GPS data counts), beginning and ending odometer readings, total trip distance, distance by jurisdiction, and the vehicle’s unit number or VIN. For fuel, you need retail receipts showing the date, seller, gallons, fuel type, price per gallon, the vehicle fueled, and the purchaser’s name. Bulk fuel storage carries additional withdrawal and invoice requirements.¹²

Penalties

IFTA violations are summary offenses under the Motor Carriers Road Tax Act. A first record-keeping offense carries a fine of $100 to $500. Subsequent offenses carry a fine of $200 to $500, up to 90 days imprisonment, or both.¹² Persistent non-compliance can lead to revocation of your IFTA license, after which every member jurisdiction is notified that your credentials are no longer valid and your trucks can’t cross a state line without individual trip permits for each one.

1
Department of Revenue | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Motor Carriers Road Tax
2
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 – Section 2101.1
3
IFTA, Inc. International Fuel Tax Association. Vehicle Exemptions for 2026
4
Department of Revenue | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. IFTA License and Decal Application (IFTA-200A)
5
Department of Revenue | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Motor Carrier Road Tax Decals
6
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 75 – Section 2102 – Identification Markers and License or Road Tax Registration Card Required
7
IFTA, Inc. International Fuel Tax Association. IFTA Best Practices Administrative Guide
8
Department of Revenue | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Trip Permit Information
9
IFTA, Inc. International Fuel Tax Association. IFTA Credential Grace Period
10
Department of Revenue | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. State Tax Due Date Reference Guide (DPO-05)
11
IFTA, Inc. International Fuel Tax Association. IFTA Annual Interest Rate
12
Department of Revenue | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania IFTA Audit Manual