Gas prices in Illinois are up 48% from last Memorial Day. Here’s what to know about the state’s gas tax.
Nearly 2 million Illinoisans planning a Memorial Day weekend road trip will pay about 48% more for gas here than they did last year.
The major driver of the spike is, of course, the war in Iran. But much of your gas money goes to taxes.
The Illinois state gas tax is 48.3 cents a gallon. In January, the average federal and state tax on gas in Illinois was just under 85 cents a gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That’s the second-highest in the country, behind only California.
The average price per gallon in Illinois was $5.03 a gallon May 20, up from $3.41 a year before, according to AAA. In the Chicago metro area the average was $5.20, up from $3.54.
Figuring that the average car holds around 14 gallons, that’s over $70 to fill up in Illinois, up from a little under $48 last year. That number could climb as the state gas tax is slated to go up to 49.6 cents July 1 because of an automatic inflation-linked increase.
High gas prices also affect Illinoisans’ retail purchases, as so much of what people buy travels by road.
History of the state gas tax
The high Illinois state tax is relatively recent. For almost three decades, from 1990 to 2019, the Illinois gas tax held steady at 19 cents a gallon. In 2019 Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois infrastructure program became law, doubling the state tax to 38 cents a gallon and providing the automatic July 1 increases.
How the gas tax works
On top of its gas excise tax, the state charges a 6.25% sales tax — imposed after the state tax, meaning drivers are taxed on a tax.
Add to that the federal tax of 18.4 cents a gallon — which has not changed since 1993.
Working families suffer the most from these taxes. Middle- and low-income Illinoisans often drive older, less fuel-efficient vehicles and spend a larger share of their income commuting to work and school and driving for daily necessities.
Before demanding even more from drivers, lawmakers should prove they can better manage the billions they already collect from Illinois families every year.
Let Pritzker know you oppose the upcoming automatic increase in the state gas tax:
