CALIFORNIA – The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) announced to retailers that the gas tax for motor vehicles would increase from 57.9 cents to 59.6 cents per gallon on July 1.
The tax on diesel fuel will increase from 44.1 cents per gallon to 45.4 cents per gallon.
According to CalTax, California motorists pay a federal fuel tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, and state costs for the low-carbon fuel standard, the cap-and-trade program, state and local sales tax, and the underground storage fee.
All totaled, for motor vehicle fuel priced at $5 per gallon, taxpayers pay approximately $1.21 per gallon in state and federal taxes and fees.
Gas tax more than doubled since 2017
The annual gas tax increase is part of a law enacted in 2017 under Senate Bill 1 – the Road Repair and Accountability Act.
One of the provisions of SB 1 is that it includes an annual adjustment for inflation. This means that every July 1, the gas tax is adjusted based on the California Consumer Price Index (CPI) to ensure that the revenue keeps pace with inflation.