How much is the gas tax in California?

California's state gasoline excise tax is about $0.596 per gallon, the highest in the nation, and is adjusted for inflation each July. On top of that, a federal excise tax of $0.184 per gallon applies, for a combined excise of roughly $0.78 per gallon.

Does this include sales tax on fuel?

This tool focuses on the per-gallon excise taxes. California also applies state and local sales tax to gasoline and a separate cap-and-trade and Low Carbon Fuel Standard cost, which together add several more cents per gallon not counted here.

How is the per-mile gas tax figured?

Tax per mile equals the combined per-gallon tax divided by your vehicle's miles per gallon. A car getting 30 mpg paying $0.78/gal in tax owes about $0.026 of fuel tax per mile driven.

Why is California's gas tax so high?

California's excise rate funds road and bridge maintenance and rises automatically with inflation under SB 1 (2017). It is consistently the highest state gas tax in the United States, well above the national average.

Will this match my exact receipt?

It estimates the excise portion you pay. Your pump price also bundles sales tax and environmental program costs, and California adjusts the excise rate annually, so update the rate field for the current year for best accuracy.

California Gas Tax Calculator

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California drivers pay the highest gasoline excise tax in the country, and it rides on top of the federal excise tax at every fill-up. This calculator turns those per-gallon rates into the numbers that actually matter to you: tax per fill-up, tax per mile, and the total fuel tax you pay over a year.

How it works

The taxes are simple per-gallon excises that combine and then scale with how much you drive:

combined per-gallon tax = state excise + federal excise
tax per fill-up         = combined per-gallon tax × tank size
gallons per year        = annual miles ÷ fuel economy (mpg)
annual fuel tax         = gallons per year × combined per-gallon tax
tax per mile            = combined per-gallon tax ÷ mpg

California’s state excise is roughly 0.596 per gallon and the federal excise is 0.184, giving a combined excise near 0.78 per gallon before any sales tax or environmental program costs that the pump price also bundles in.

Example

A 14-gallon tank pays about 0.78 × 14 = 10.92 in excise tax each fill-up. A driver covering 12,000 miles a year at 28 mpg burns 428.6 gallons and pays roughly 428.6 × 0.78 = 334.30 in fuel excise tax for the year.

Notes

California’s excise rate is adjusted for inflation every July under SB 1, so update the state-rate field for the current year. Your actual pump price also includes state and local sales tax on fuel plus cap-and-trade and Low Carbon Fuel Standard costs, which add several more cents per gallon not shown here.