The tax on a gallon of gas in the United States averages about 52 cents, made up of a 18.4-cent federal excise tax and roughly 33 cents in state taxes and fees. That’s before county levies, environmental surcharges, or the sales tax that a handful of states apply to fuel. Depending on where you fill up, your actual burden can run anywhere from about 27 cents per gallon in Alaska to well over 80 cents in California.
The Federal Gas Tax
The federal government charges 18.4 cents on every gallon of regular gasoline. That figure is really two pieces stacked together: 18.3 cents in base excise tax and an extra 0.1 cent that funds the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund. Diesel is taxed at a higher combined rate of 24.4 cents per gallon.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S.C. 4081 – Imposition of Tax
You never see this tax on your receipt. It’s collected at the fuel terminal when gasoline is loaded into delivery trucks, so by the time it reaches the pump, it’s already priced into what the station paid its distributor. Almost all of the money goes into the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for road construction, bridge repairs, and mass transit.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S.C. 9503 – Highway Trust Fund The LUST portion is set aside to clean up sites contaminated by leaking storage tanks.
The 18.4-cent rate hasn’t moved since August 1993, when Congress last raised it through the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.3Federal Highway Administration. When Did the Federal Government Begin Collecting the Gas Tax? Three decades of inflation have cut its purchasing power roughly in half, which is why the Highway Trust Fund now runs chronic deficits and gets propped up with transfers from general revenue.
State Gas Taxes
Every state adds its own tax on top of the federal rate, and the spread is wide. As of January 2026, state gasoline taxes and fees ranged from 9.0 cents per gallon in Alaska to 70.9 cents per gallon in California. The national average was about 33.3 cents.4U.S. Energy Information Administration. Many States Slightly Increased Their Taxes and Fees on Gasoline in the Past Year
p>Right behind California sit Pennsylvania, Washington, and Illinois, all above 55 cents per gallon. At the low end, Alaska, Hawaii, and New Mexico each come in under 20 cents. These gaps explain why gas prices can jump noticeably when you cross a state line; a fill-up near the California-Arizona border involves roughly a 50-cent-per-gallon swing in state tax alone.
About 26 states and Washington, D.C., use a variable-rate structure that adjusts automatically with wholesale fuel prices or inflation. The rest set a flat cents-per-gallon rate that changes only when the legislature acts. In variable-rate states, the tax can creep up (or down) each year without a vote; in fixed-rate states, the tax loses real value until lawmakers step in.
Sales Tax on Fuel in Five States
California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan apply their general sales tax to gasoline on top of the per-gallon excise tax. Because the sales tax is calculated on the full retail price, which already includes the excise tax, you end up paying a tax on a tax.
The dollar amount depends on the price of gas. In Indiana, where the sales tax rate is 7%, a $3.50 gallon carries about 24.5 cents in sales tax alone, before any excise tax or fee is counted. That layered structure is a big reason certain states consistently top national rankings for fuel tax burden even when their excise rates look ordinary.
County, City, and Other Fees
Local governments in many states can add their own fuel taxes. These “local option” taxes typically run from 1 cent to about 18 cents per gallon, so two stations in different counties of the same state can post noticeably different prices even when they buy from the same distributor.
Several smaller fees also get folded into the pump price:
- Environmental fees, usually a fraction of a cent to a couple of cents per gallon, fund inspections and cleanup of underground storage tanks.
- Petroleum business or gross receipts taxes are charged to wholesalers based on their revenue and passed down the chain to retailers and drivers.
- Inspection fees in a handful of states fund fuel quality testing at retail stations.
Each one looks trivial on its own. Together they can add 5 to 15 cents per gallon in high-tax jurisdictions, which is why published state averages tend to understate what many drivers actually pay.5U.S. Energy Information Administration. How Much Tax Do We Pay on a Gallon of Gasoline and on a Gallon of Diesel Fuel?
What You’re Actually Paying at the Pump
Combine the federal excise tax (18.4 cents) with the national state average (33.3 cents), and you’re at about 51.7 cents per gallon before any local or sales tax.4U.S. Energy Information Administration. Many States Slightly Increased Their Taxes and Fees on Gasoline in the Past Year Adding in county levies and other charges typically brings the real-world total into the mid-to-upper 50-cent range for most drivers. In California, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, combined taxes can exceed 70 or even 80 cents per gallon. In Alaska, most drivers pay under 28 cents in combined federal and state taxes.
How large a share of the pump price that represents depends on what oil is doing. With retail gasoline prices fluctuating between roughly $2.94 and $4.61 per gallon in early 2026, taxes accounted for anywhere from about 12% to nearly 20% of the price nationally. In a high-tax state with low crude prices, taxes can eat up a quarter of what you pay or more. Because most fuel taxes are flat per-gallon amounts, they act as a floor: prices rarely drop below a certain level even when oil markets fall hard.
Getting Some of It Back
You can recover the federal excise tax on fuel you buy but don’t use on public roads. Claims go on IRS Form 4136, filed with your annual income tax return.6Internal Revenue Service. About Form 4136, Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels Common qualifying uses include:
- Farming, for fuel used in tractors and other equipment on a farm for farming purposes. Farmers buying diesel are usually better off purchasing dyed diesel, which is tax-exempt at the point of sale.
- Off-highway business use, such as construction equipment, generators, and forklifts that never touch a public road. Personal use in ATVs or lawn mowers doesn’t qualify.
- Commercial fishing vessels.
- Fuel purchased by state and local governments, the District of Columbia, and nonprofit educational organizations.
The credit matches the excise tax you paid, so 18.3 cents per gallon on gasoline. You’ll need precise records of gallons purchased and consumed; the IRS rejects claims based on estimates or rounded figures.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 4136 and Schedule A (2025) Most states run parallel refund programs for their own fuel taxes on non-highway use, with their own forms and deadlines.
A Note on Electric Vehicles
None of the numbers above apply to electric vehicles, because EVs don’t burn gasoline and their owners don’t pay fuel tax. At least 41 states now charge EV owners an annual registration surcharge, ranging from about $50 to $290, to make up for some of the lost road funding. A few states, including Oregon, Utah, and Virginia, also run voluntary per-mile road usage programs as an alternative.