Order Code RS21521
Updated March 3, 2004
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Gasoline Excise Tax –
Historical Revenues: Fact Sheet
Louis Alan Talley
Specialist in Taxation
Government and Finance Division
Pamela J. Jackson
Analyst in Public Sector Economics
Government and Finance Division
The federal government first imposed a gasoline excise tax with the passage of the
Revenue Act of 1932. The rate was one cent per gallon. During the early years of the tax,
the proceeds went into the general fund of the Treasury. It was not until 1956, when
Congress established the Highway Trust Fund, that revenue receipts from the gasoline tax
were dedicated to a trust fund for highway programs. The conventional wisdom was that
the gas tax represented a user tax. Subsequently, in response to large federal budget
deficits, Congress returned a portion of the gasoline excise tax to general revenues (from
December 1990 until October 1997). After that period, the general fund portion of the
tax was redirected to the Highway Trust Fund.
The highway-related excise taxes (including the tax on gasoline) were extended
through September 30, 2005 under the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century
generally known as TEA21.1 An increase in the gasoline excise tax rate may be examined
during consideration of the successor legislation to TEA21. TEA21 expired at the
conclusion of FY2003 and two short-term extensions of highway and transit programs
were enacted to allow Highway Trust Fund expenditures to continue. P.L. 108-88 enacted
extensions through February 29, 2004, and P.L. 108-202 continued those extensions
through April 30, 2004.
The gasoline tax rate stands at 18.4 cents per gallon. This rate has provided a
reliable and steady source of receipts. Since fiscal year 1997, gasoline taxes have
generated over $20 billion per year for the Highway Trust Fund with the vast majority of
receipts disbursed through the Highway and Mass Transit Accounts. The authors plan to
update this fact sheet to reflect legislative changes and collection figures.
1 For a detailed history of the gasoline excise tax, see CRS Report RL30304, The Federal Excise
Tax on Gasoline and the Highway Trust Fund: A Short History by Louis Alan Talley and Pamela
J. Jackson.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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CRS-2
Table 1. Gasoline Excise Tax Collections
(Collection Receipts in thousands of dollars, Tax rate in cents per gallon)
Fiscal Year
Collections
Tax Rate
Fiscal Year
Collections
Tax Rate
1933
124,929
1.0
1968
3,030,792
4.0
1934
202,575
1.0
1969
3,283,715
4.0
1935
161,532
1.0
1970
3,430,076
4.0
1936
177,340
1.0
1971
3,547,678
4.0
1937
196,533
1.0
1972
3,741,160
4.0
1938
203,648
1.0
1973
3,927,535
4.0
1939
207,019
1.0
1974
4,087,669
4.0
1940
226,187
1.0
1975
3,980,412
4.0
1941
343,021
1.5
1976
4,180,860
4.0
1942
369,587
1.5
1977
4,322,077
4.0
1943
288,786
1.5
1978
4,444,484
4.0
1944
271,217
1.5
1979
4,525,065
4.0
1945
405,563
1.5
1980
4,218,147
4.0
1946
405,695
1.5
1981
4,007,956
4.0
1947
433,676
1.5
1982
4,214,373
4.0
1948
478,638
1.5
1983
4,904,580
4.0
1949
503,647
1.5
1984
9,021,518
9.0
1950
526,732
1.5
1985
9,062,387
9.0
1951
569,048
1.5
1986
8,854,674
9.0
1952
713,174
2.0
1987
8,925,028
9.0
1953
890,675
2.0
1988
9,167,139
9.1
1954
835,610
2.0
1989
9,725,089
9.1
1955
953,201
2.0
1990
9,465,647
9.1
1956
1,030,397
2.0
1991
14,468,500
14.1
1957
1,458,217
3.0
1992
14,759,324
14.1
1958
1,636,629
3.0
1993
14,753,020
14.1
1959
1,700,253
3.0
1994
19,794,300
18.4
1960
2,015,863
4.0
1995
19,918,500
18.4
1961
2,370,303
4.0
1996
19,653,800
18.3
1962
2,406,001
4.0
1997
20,836,000
18.4
1963
2,497,316
4.0
1998
20,644,998
18.4
1964
2,618,370
4.0
1999
21,236,659
18.4
1965
2,687,135
4.0
2000
21,040,777
18.4
1966
2,824,189
4.0
2001
20,619,195
18.4
1967
2,932,894
4.0
2002
20,942,138
18.4
Sources: Collection figures were taken from the Internal Revenue Service’s Statistics of Income Bulletins. See v. 20,
no. 3, Winter 2000-2001, p. 144 and v. 23, no. 2, Fall 2003, p. 329.

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