(The Center Square) – With the price of oil on the rise because of tensions in the Middle East, the high gas taxes in Illinois only makes things more expensive for motorists.
A study by the Tax Foundation shows that Illinois has the second highest gas taxes in the country, behind only California, the only two states with gas taxes that top 60 cents per gallon. The lowest gas tax in the continental U.S. is Mississippi at just 18 cents per gallon.
Illinoisans pay 66.5 cents in taxes per gallon. In neighboring Missouri, the gas tax is less than a quarter, something that Adam Hoffer, Tax Foundation director of Excise Tax Policy, said on the group’s podcast that it is a fact not lost on Illinois drivers.
“I think most people who drive know where they can find the cheapest gasoline, and whether that is the cheapest within their state or any other state that they may travel to in the near area,” said Hoffer.
Neighboring Iowa’s gas tax is 30 cents a gallon. Kentucky’s is 30.1 cents. Wisconsin’s is 32.9 cents. Indiana’s is 51.7 cents.
When the gas tax in Illinois increased again in July, it meant the average driver pays $184 more in gas taxes each year compared to before 2019, when a bipartisan group of state legislators and Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled the tax with annual increases tied to inflation.
Earlier this year, state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, called for a gas tax freeze.
“People who are having to drive to work need some relief because we clearly know that inflation has eaten into everyone’s budget,” said Caulkins.
Illinois is one of seven states that charges a sales tax on gasoline, adding it after the motor fuel tax is applied. That means Illinois motorists pay sales taxes on top of the taxes they pay for gasoline.
Dylan Sharkey with the Illinois Policy Institute said unfortunately Illinois is near the top in other tax lists as well, including the second highest property taxes and second highest corporate income tax rate.
“It’s one thing to be near the top of one ranking but for Illinois to consistently be near the top for all of them goes to show that people are losing out in multiple ways,” said Sharkey.