Gas Taxes Are Rising Nationally—and Nowhere More Than California
Reagan Campbell | March 23, 2026
Across the nation, states are raising their gas taxes. Leading the way, California now has a 70.9-cent per-gallon state excise tax.
The Tax Foundation says the “gas tax is meant to function as a user fee, charging drivers to fund the construction and maintenance of the roads they use.”
States apply tax gas in a variety of ways; most add tax at the pump, some charge sales taxes on fuel suppliers, and others tack on extra fees like “underground storage tank fees.”
All of these charges add differently, which is why gas taxes—and gas prices—can look very different from one state to another.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/03/23/gas-taxes-rising-nationally-nowhere-more-than-california/
