President Joe Biden’s proposed three-month federal gas tax holiday would shave a couple of dollars off drivers’ bills every time they filled up their tanks.
If approved by Congress, the proposal would suspend the 18-cent-per-gallon federal tax on gas. Drivers of sedans, with an average tank size of 15 gallons, would save almost $3 on full fuel-ups, an NBC News estimate found. And drivers of 36-gallon-tank trucks would save almost $6.50 every time they filled up their tanks.
Biden’s proposal, which comes as gas prices have soared for most of the year, echoes moves by legislators in Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New York and Puerto Rico, who have passed laws suspending their local gas taxes. Eleven other states are debating similar efforts, through either gas tax suspensions or tax rebates.
Drivers in Nevada would not benefit from Biden’s proposal, as the state has a law that would automatically impose an additional gas tax to cancel out any federal gas tax discount.
The average price of a gallon of gas is about $5, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. The White House has taken steps to combat the rising prices, including making multiple withdrawals from the country’s backup petroleum stockpile in the past year.
