Trump looks to suspend the federal gas tax
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May 11, 2026, 2:25 PM EDT / Updated July 19, 2026, 7:40 AM EDT
By Joe Murphy and Jiachuan Wu
As national gas price averages hover around $3.80 per gallon, multiple states have suspended or reduced their gas taxes, and President Donald Trump and his Cabinet have talked about doing the same
While a suspension would offer some relief, an NBC News analysis shows that gas prices would still average 14% more per gallon than they were at the start of the Iran war, even if all state and federal taxes were suspended. Average gas prices nationwide are up nearly 30% since the war was launched at the end of February
Trump told reporters in May that he intended to suspend the 18 cents per gallon federal gas tax. Such a suspension would require an act of Congress. Democrats in the House and Senate proposed measures to suspend the gas tax in March
“All measures that can be taken to lower the price at the pump and lower the prices for Americans, this administration is in support of,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in May
An average of 51 cents in taxes and fees is tacked onto every gallon of regular gas that’s pumped in America. Some of this revenue goes to the state levying the tax, and about 18 cents of it goes to the federal coffers
Georgia’s gas tax was suspended from March to early June. Indiana’s gas tax holiday was extended through to early August, Utah has reduced its gas tax and Kentucky’s statewide gas tax reduction expired near the beginning of June
How much these taxes and fees account for varies: 6.7% of Hawaii’s cost per gallon goes to taxes and fees, while 20.9% of the price people in Illinois pay comes from state and federal taxes and fees, according to an NBC News analysis. On average, across all states, 13.5% of the price paid per gallon goes to taxes and fees as of July
Taxes and fees range from 27 cents per gallon in Alaska to 89 cents per gallon in California. Note that local taxes are not factored into this data
Some of the federal gas tax money goes toward the Highway Trust Fund, which itself is used to fund highway and mass transit projects. One estimate put the cost of a gas tax holiday at a minimum of $2.5 billion per month
In March, Trump said at a Cabinet meeting that he had “thought about” suspending the federal gas tax
The federal gas tax has not been increased since Bill Clinton signed the last increase into law in 1993. The 18 cents it cost per gallon in 1993, after inflation, would be worth 8 cents in 2026 dollars
CORRECTION (May 14, 2026, 3:15 p.m. ET): A previous version of a chart and map in this article miscalculated Indiana’s and Utah’s average price per gallon of gas without state taxes. The state taxes had already been removed or reduced from the current price, which the graphics did not acknowledge
