IFTA Tax Rates in Mississippi (2026)

Key numbers at a glance

IFTA tax rates in Mississippi

The rates below are what your base state applies to Mississippi miles when processing your quarterly IFTA return. Figures are as of Q4 2026 — confirm the current official IFTA matrix before filing, because Mississippi's rate now moves every July 1.

Context for the change: Mississippi held its fuel tax at 18 cents per gallon for decades, and the 2025 legislation (the state's first increase since the 1980s) put the rate on a 3-cents-per-year ladder — 18 cents through June 30, 2025, 21 cents through June 30, 2026, 24 cents through June 30, 2027 and 27 cents from July 1, 2027. After 2029 the schedule allows annual adjustments capped at 1 cent per year. The Department of Revenue posts the full petroleum tax rate schedule, and the Tax Foundation's July 2026 table puts Mississippi's all-in state figure (including minor fees) at about 24.4 cents — the 24-cent excise is the number that flows through IFTA.

How Mississippi IFTA affects your filings

Every gallon burned on Mississippi roads is taxed at 24 cents whether the fuel was bought in Memphis, Huntsville or Baton Rouge. The math: Mississippi miles ÷ fleet MPG × 24 cents. At 6.5 MPG, Mississippi costs 3.69 cents per mile in fuel tax — 400 miles means 61.5 taxable gallons and $14.76 owed. A regional carrier running 8,000 Mississippi miles a quarter at 6.5 MPG owes roughly $295 before pump credits.

The July 1 step-up lands mid-year, which matters for your quarterly returns: Q2 2026 was taxed at 21 cents and Q3 2026 at 24 cents for the same miles. Most base states handle the split automatically when the matrix carries one rate per quarter, but if you file with software that stores a single annual rate, update it in July — a 3-cent error on 8,000 miles at 6.5 MPG is $37 a quarter, and it compounds if you never catch it. Keep receipts matched to distance records, recompute MPG each quarter, and file on time even when the net is zero; late returns typically draw $50–$100 penalties plus interest.

Two tools that keep the whole system honest: the IFTA calculator for the per-state math, and the fuel surcharge guide for recovering fuel cost from shippers — Mississippi's rates are still among the lowest in the South, but every cent of them belongs in your per-mile numbers.

Fueling strategy: Mississippi versus its neighbors

Mississippi is the cheap seat in its neighborhood — below Tennessee, Arkansas and especially Alabama, with only Louisiana lower. Neighbor rates below are per gallon, per the Tax Foundation's July 2026 state table (Mississippi shown from the Department of Revenue schedule above).

The play: on I-55, I-20 or I-10 lanes, fueling in Mississippi before crossing into Tennessee, Arkansas or Alabama is usually free money — you prepay 24 cents of tax on gallons that would otherwise be taxed at 28–33 cents where you burn them, and the credit follows the miles. The reverse is the leak: buying cheap Louisiana fuel (20.9 cents) and burning Mississippi miles leaves 3.1 cents per gallon due at filing, roughly $5 per 1,000 Mississippi miles at 6.5 MPG — small per trip, real per year. Compare pump price minus tax rather than sticker price, and check the states still ahead on the route. The full national picture is on the IFTA rates by state hub, and the official quarterly numbers live in the IFTA Clearinghouse rate matrix.