Georgia suspends fuel tax, but other US states may not follow

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia on Friday become the first state in the United States to suspend fuel taxes after the war in the Middle East sent pump prices soaring.

Republican Governor Brian Kemp signed into law a 60-day suspension of the state’s 33-cents-per-gallon tax on gas and 37-cents-per-gallon tax on diesel. Motorists are likely to start getting relief in the coming days as the price cuts trickle through from wholesalers to gas stations.

Unlike when gas prices surged in 2022, though, other states don’t appear to be moving in the same direction. That’s in part because states aren’t as flush with cash as they were immediately following the pandemic, when federal aid and tax revenues both surged.

The average gas price nationwide has risen from $2.93 a gallon on Feb. 20 to $3.91 a gallon Friday, motorist group AAA says.

In Georgia, at least, that prompted a decision to dig into its declining savings account to give two months of relief, even if the savings could be obscured if oil prices continue rising.

Kemp said he wanted to “return taxpayer money where it belongs, in the pockets of hardworking Georgians.”

Officials estimate Georgia will forgo $360 million to $400 million in fuel taxes, which translates to $5 or $6 per tank for a typical passenger vehicle.

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