What is Colorado's gas tax rate?

Colorado levies a 22 cents per gallon state excise tax on gasoline, one of the lower rates in the country. A separate road usage fee, phased in to fund highways, adds a few more cents per gallon on top.

Is the federal gas tax included?

Yes. The tool adds the federal excise of 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline. Combined with Colorado's state excise and road usage fee, the total tax baked into each gallon is roughly 42 to 43 cents.

How is the per-mile cost found?

In annual mode the tool divides your yearly miles by your MPG to get gallons burned, then multiplies by the total per-gallon tax. Dividing the annual tax by miles gives the tax cost per mile driven.

Why is Colorado's gas tax so low?

Colorado has not raised its 22-cent excise since 1991, so inflation has eroded its real value. The legislature added the road usage fee in recent years to make up the shortfall in highway funding without changing the headline excise.

Does this include sales tax on fuel?

No. Colorado does not apply general state sales tax to gasoline, so the cost shown is excise and road usage fees only. Some local jurisdictions may apply additional charges not captured here.

Colorado Gas Tax Calculator

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Every gallon of gasoline in Colorado carries a stack of taxes: a 22-cent state excise, a road usage fee, and the 18.4-cent federal excise. This calculator totals them so you can see what you pay per fill-up and per year.

How it works

The total per-gallon tax is the sum of three components:

total per gallon = state excise (0.22) + road usage fee + federal excise (0.184)

For a single fill-up, multiply by your tank size. For annual cost, convert miles to gallons first:

gallons per year = annual miles / MPG
annual tax       = gallons per year × total per gallon
tax per mile     = annual tax / annual miles

Example

A 14-gallon tank at a 0.43 total per-gallon rate costs 14 × 0.43 = $6.02 in tax per fill-up. Driving 12,000 miles per year at 28 MPG burns about 429 gallons, for roughly $184 in fuel tax a year.

Notes

Colorado does not levy general sales tax on gasoline, so the figure is excise and road usage fees only. The road usage fee phases up over several years, so the exact total per gallon shifts slightly each year.