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When Was the Federal Gas Tax Last Raised?
When was the federal gas tax last raised? October 1, 1993. That is not a typo. The federal gasoline tax has been 18.4 cents a gallon for more than 30 years, the same rate it had when a gallon of gas cost $1.11 at the pump and the top movie was still playing in theaters. It is not indexed to inflation. It does not adjust itself. Congress has to act, and Congress has not acted since the first Clinton administration.
To put the number in context: you pay 18.4 cents on every gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents on every gallon of diesel, everywhere in the country, on top of whatever your state charges. The revenue mostly feeds the Highway Trust Fund, which pays the federal share of highway and transit projects. When people talk about gas taxes, the state rankings get all the attention, but the federal piece is the one that time forgot.
The short history of the 18.4 cents
The federal gas tax did not start at 18.4 cents. It climbed in steps, roughly one per political era:
| Year | What happened | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Highway Trust Fund created; revenue dedicated to the interstate system | 3 cents |
| 1959 | Congress pushes the rate up | 4 cents |
| 1983 | Reagan-era nickel increase, 1 cent for transit | 9 cents |
| 1990 | Budget deal adds 5 cents, half for deficit reduction | 14.1 cents |
| 1993 | Omnibus budget act adds 4.3 cents plus a 0.1 cent tank levy | 18.4 cents |
And then, nothing. For over three decades. Every few years a proposal surfaces: index it to inflation, add a dime, replace it with a mileage fee. Every few years it dies. Meanwhile inflation rose about 122% from October 1993 to late 2025, which means the 18.4 cents collects the real-world equivalent of roughly 8 cents in 1993 dollars. As one tax analyst told NPR back when the gap was merely 25 years old, the purchasing power of the tax has been sliced by almost two-thirds.
18.4 cents, then and now
At 1993 prices, 18.4 cents was about 17% of the $1.11 pump price. Today it is a single-digit share of the price per gallon in most states. The tax shrank in real terms while the roads it funds got more expensive to build.
Why states went their own way
While Washington stood still, the states did not. Many states raised their own rates repeatedly, and as of recent counts, 19 states plus DC tie their gas tax to fuel prices, inflation, vehicle fuel economy, or other factors. That is why California sits at 73.6 cents while Alaska is at 8.95 cents: the state layer is doing all the moving. Several states raised their rates again in 2026, automatically in some cases because of the indexing formulas.
This creates a strange picture for drivers. In 2026 your total per-gallon tax is dominated by the state line, with the federal 18.4 cents as a flat add-on everywhere. Run the yearly formula and you will see the federal share is the smaller part of what you pay, a complete reversal from the days when the federal rate was the big one.
My opinion: the interesting question is not whether the federal gas tax will go up, it is what replaces it. Indexing to inflation would have been the boring fix decades ago. Now the harder conversation is mileage-based fees, because electric vehicles pay zero gas tax while driving the same roads. Whichever path Congress eventually takes, the era of the static 18.4 cents is an artifact: a 1993 price frozen in a 2026 economy. Check the full 2026 state-by-state rankings with chart and CSV download to see your state's side of the story.
Frequently asked questions
When was the federal gas tax last raised?
October 1, 1993, when it rose to 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel. It has not changed since and is not indexed to inflation.
How much is the federal gas tax in 2026?
18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline, 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel. It applies on top of each state's own gas tax, and most of the revenue goes to the Highway Trust Fund.
Why has the federal gas tax not kept up with inflation?
It is a fixed cents-per-gallon amount with no automatic inflation adjustment, and Congress has not passed an increase since 1993. With prices up roughly 122% since then, the tax has lost about two-thirds of its purchasing power.
What was the federal gas tax before 1993?
3 cents in 1956 when the Highway Trust Fund was created, 4 cents in 1959, 9 cents in 1983, 14.1 cents in 1990, and 18.4 cents in 1993, where it has stayed.
Is there a proposal to raise the federal gas tax?
Proposals surface regularly but none have passed since 1993. Some states index their own gas taxes to inflation or fuel prices, but the federal rate stays fixed at 18.4 cents.
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