New Jersey’s Gas Tax is Increasing on October 1st
New Jersey's gas tax is inching up this fall.
The Department of the Treasury announced on Friday that the per-gallon tax for gasoline will tick upward beginning Oct. 1, following two years of declines.
A New Jersey law from 2016 requires the state to collect roughly $2 billion in gas tax funds per year in order to replenish the state's Transportation Trust Fund.
Because fuel consumption over the past year was less than projected and this year's consumption isn't expected to cover the shortfall, New Jersey's gas tax rate will increase by 0.9 cents.
The Petroleum Products Gross Receipts tax rate is going from 30.9 cents to 31.8 cents for gasoline and from 34.9 cents to 35.8 cents for diesel fuel. When combined with the Motor Fuels Tax, which is at a fixed rate, motorists at the pump will pay a 42.3-cent tax for gasoline and 49.3-cent tax for diesel fuel.
As of July 1, New Jersey had the seventh-highest gas tax rate in the nation, according to Tax Foundation. States' rates range from 9 cents per gallon to 78 cents per gallon.
New Jersey's tax had been at 14.5 cents per gallon until a law signed in 2016 by then-Gov. Chris Christie raised it by more than 26 cents.
The rate fell by a penny in October 2022, after dropping by more than eight cents in 2021. New Jersey's gas tax increased by more than 9 cents in October 2020, after going unchanged in 2019.
Adjustments are based on a formula that was created with the 2016 law.
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