CRS Releases Fact Sheet on Gasoline Excise Taxation
MAY 24, 2005
RS21521
DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
- AuthorsTalley, Louis AlanJackson, Pamela J.
- Institutional AuthorsCongressional Research Service
- Code Sections
- Subject Area/Tax Topics
- Jurisdictions
- LanguageEnglish
- Tax Analysts Document NumberDoc 2005-13023
- Tax Analysts Electronic Citation2005 TNT 115-24
Citations: RS21521
Order Code
RS21521
Updated May 24, 2005
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Louis Alan Talley
Specialist in Taxation and Pamela
J. Jackson Analyst in Public Sector
Economics Government and
Finance Division
Summary
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 gas tax was regarded as 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 entire amount of the tax was redirected once again to the Highway Trust Fund. The authors plan to update this fact sheet to reflect legislative changes and collection figures.
The highway-related excise taxes (including the tax on gasoline) were extended through September 30, 2005, under the tax title of the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century, known as TEA21. The highway and transit funding programs of TEA21 first expired at the conclusion of FY2003. Five extensions have continued funding through May 31, 2005. Both the House and Senate have passed highway reauthorization bills. Both versions of these bills would continue the gasoline excise tax at the current tax rate through September 30, 2011. The Senate bill adds $11.2 billion in additional funding, all of which is fully offset by revenue provisions. It has been argued that this additional revenue is needed so that all states will receive as much in federal highway aid as they pay in federal gasoline excise taxes. A conference committee will try to reconcile the differences between these two bills. The President remains committed to the funding level he proposed in his FY2005 budget and as included in the House legislation.
Table 1. Gasoline Excise Tax Collections
(Collection Receipts in thousands of dollars, Tax rate in cents per gallon)
______________________________________________________________________________
Fiscal Collections Tax Fiscal Collections Tax
Year Rate Year Rate
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1933 124,929 1.0 1969 3,283,715 4.0
1934 202,575 1.0 1970 3,430,076 4.0
1935 161,532 1.0 1971 3,547,678 4.0
1936 177,340 1.0 1972 3,741,160 4.0
1937 196,533 1.0 1973 3,927,535 4.0
1938 203,648 1.0 1974 4,087,669 4.0
1939 207,019 1.0 1975 3,980,412 4.0
1940 226,187 1.0 1976 4,180,860 4.0
1941 343,021 1.5 1977 4,322,077 4.0
1942 369,587 1.5 1978 4,444,484 4.0
1943 288,786 1.5 1979 4,525,065 4.0
1944 271,217 1.5 1980 4,218,147 4.0
1945 405,563 1.5 1981 4,007,956 4.0
1946 405,695 1.5 1982 4,214,373 4.0
1947 433,676 1.5 1983 4,904,580 4.0
1948 478,638 1.5 1984 9,021,518 9.0
1949 503,647 1.5 1985 9,062,387 9.0
1950 526,732 1.5 1986 8,854,674 9.0
1951 569,048 1.5 1987 8,925,028 9.0
1952 713,174 2.0 1988 9,167,139 9.1
1953 890,675 2.0 1989 9,725,089 9.1
1954 835,610 2.0 1990 9,465,647 9.1
1955 953,201 2.0 1991 14,468,500 14.1
1956 1,030,397 2.0 1992 14,759,324 14.1
1957 1,458,217 3.0 1993 14,753,020 14.1
1958 1,636,629 3.0 1994 19,794,300 18.4
1959 1,700,253 3.0 1995 19,918,500 18.4
1960 2,015,863 4.0 1996 19,653,800 18.3
1961 2,370,303 4.0 1997 20,836,000 18.4
1962 2,406,001 4.0 1998 20,644,998 18.4
1963 2,497,316 4.0 1999 21,236,659 18.4
1964 2,618,370 4.0 2000 21,040,777 18.4
1965 2,687,135 4.0 2001 20,619,195 18.4
1966 2,824,189 4.0 2002 20,942,138 18.4
1967 2,932,894 4.0 2003 20,169,608 18.4
1968 3,030,792 4.0 2004 Full Year N/A 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. 24, no. 3, Winter 2004-2005, p. 152.
DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
- AuthorsTalley, Louis AlanJackson, Pamela J.
- Institutional AuthorsCongressional Research Service
- Code Sections
- Subject Area/Tax Topics
- Jurisdictions
- LanguageEnglish
- Tax Analysts Document NumberDoc 2005-13023
- Tax Analysts Electronic Citation2005 TNT 115-24
