Be thankful you do not have to buy gas in California. But remember, what occurs first in California usually winds up infecting the rest of the US.
Gas Taxes: Here’s the tax side of the ledger:
- The federal government charges an excise tax of 18.4 cents per gallon.
- California’s excise taxes on gasoline come to 50.5 cents per gallon. That includes 12.7 cents per gallon from a Senate Bill to improve infrastructure and develop transportation programs across the state.
- Plus, there’s a state sales tax. It can vary by area but analysts estimate the sales tax averages 10.7 cents per gallon.
Put together, Californians pay 79.6 cents per gallon in gas taxes.
But hold on – because that’s not all – we have to add “fees”:
- Underground Storage Tank fee of 2 cents per gallon – these fees are allegedly to clean up underground petroleum storage tanks across the state.
- Fuels Under the Cap fee, which is part of the state’s cap and trade program that requires suppliers of polluting fuels to purchase allowances to offset the emissions that result from burning those fuels. The fee varies depending on the price of the cap and trade allowances and currently comes to 14.3 cents per gallon.
- Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which requires suppliers of fuels with high carbon intensity to purchase credits from makers of fuels with lower carbon, such as ethanol and biodiesel. This fee also varies but using recent prices, Stillwater estimated it at 22.6 cents a gallon.
All told, the fees come to 38.9 cents per gallon.
Add that to the 79.6 cents in taxes, and California drivers pay $1.185 — or rounded to $1.19 — per gallon in taxes and fees.
Everyone loses. Well ... not everyone ..., right Gavin?