Georgia’s gas tax is back. The state’s suspension of its motor fuel excise tax expired at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2, restoring 33.3 cents per gallon on regular gasoline and 37.3 cents on diesel. Drivers across the state were told to brace for pump prices to climb by roughly that much, with some forecasts pushing the average back over $4 a gallon by Wednesday.
Here is the part that complicates the warning. During the nearly three months the tax was gone, the headline price barely moved. The statewide average sat at $3.79 when the holiday began in March and at $3.80 on the day it ended, according to AAA, the motor club that tracks daily fuel prices. That single penny is the whole story of who actually held the 33 cents.
What Changed at Midnight on June 2
The mechanics are simple. Georgia’s motor fuel excise tax is collected at the distributor level and built into the price you pay at the pump. When Gov. Brian Kemp let the suspension lapse, distributors went back to remitting the tax, and that cost flows downstream to retailers and then to drivers over the following days.
The state taxes regular and diesel at slightly different rates, so the projected increases differ too. Both are set by an annual formula tied to vehicle fuel efficiency and the Consumer Price Index, the federal measure of inflation, which is why the numbers carry an odd decimal.
| Fuel type | Restored excise tax (per gallon) | Projected pump increase |
|---|---|---|
| Regular gasoline | 33.3 cents | about 33 cents |
| Diesel | 37.3 cents | about 37 cents |
One thing did not change. Local prepaid sales taxes on fuel were never suspended, so they stayed on your receipt the entire time. The holiday only touched the state excise line. The exact timing of the increase varies by location and retailer, because stations sell down fuel they bought before the deadline before they reprice.
The Pump Price Barely Moved During the Holiday
Set the politics aside and look at the AAA numbers. A 33-cent tax came off in March. The average price moved one cent across the life of the holiday. If the cut had flowed straight to drivers, the March average should have dropped toward the low $3.40s before world oil prices did anything else. It did not.
Part of that is timing. Kemp first signed the suspension in March in response to a price spike tied to conflict in the Middle East, so the cut landed just as crude was pushing prices up. The tax break offset a rising market rather than dragging the headline number lower. Oil then settled, which is one reason the governor’s office felt comfortable letting the break expire.
Still, the flat line tells drivers something useful about what comes next. The number on the marquee responds to crude oil far more than to a third of a cent here or there in state policy. The 33-cent figure is real on paper. Whether you feel all of it at the pump is a different question.
Why Drivers Never Pocketed the Full 33 Cents
Economists who studied the wave of state gas tax holidays in 2022 found the same thing again and again. Cut a tax at the distributor level, and only part of it reaches the person holding the nozzle. The rest gets absorbed somewhere up the chain.
The 2022 Pass-Through Numbers
A peer-reviewed analysis of those holidays put the average pass-through rate at about 79 percent, meaning roughly eight cents of every dime cut actually showed up as lower prices. Georgia fared worse than the average in that research.
- Georgia (2022 holiday): 58 percent to 65 percent of the cut reached consumers
- Maryland: about 72 percent passed through
- Connecticut: 71 percent to 87 percent passed through
- Across all states studied: roughly 79 percent on average
Apply Georgia’s own 2022 range to this year’s break and the math gets blunt. A driver might have seen something closer to 20 cents of the 33-cent cut, with the remainder staying with suppliers and retailers.
Why Stations Hold Some Back
Pass-through runs in both directions, and it runs slowly. Stations that bought fuel before a tax change tend to reprice gradually, protecting margins on the way down and easing prices up to avoid spooking customers. The same friction that kept the cut from reaching drivers in full now works in their favor. A return of the tax tends to arrive over several days, not in a single overnight jump to the full 33 cents.
Diesel, Commuters and the People Who Feel It Most
The 37.3-cent diesel rate matters far beyond pickup trucks. Diesel moves freight, and freight moves groceries, building supplies and almost everything else on a store shelf. When the tax comes back on diesel, trucking firms see it first, and a slice of that cost eventually filters into delivered goods across the state.
For ordinary commuters, the hit is smaller but steady. A driver filling a 15-gallon tank once a week pays about $5 more per fill-up if the full 33 cents lands, roughly $20 a month. That is real money for a household on a tight budget, and it is the constituency the holiday was built to protect. The relief was always temporary, and the timing of its end lands after the Memorial Day travel rush the extension was meant to cover.
What the Holiday Cost the State
The flip side of cheaper gas is a hole in the budget. State leaders estimated the full suspension would hand nearly $400 million in savings to consumers and businesses over its run, which is also the revenue the state chose to forgo. That money normally feeds road and bridge work.
The break came in two pieces. House Bill 1199, signed March 20, suspended the tax through May 19. Kemp then used executive authority to extend it two more weeks, framing the move around holiday travelers.
As Georgia families prepare for the Memorial Day travel weekend, they should not feel blindsided by prices at the gas pump.
That was Kemp, in the May statement announcing the extension. The political logic was straightforward: shield drivers through the busiest road-trip weekend of late spring, then let the tax return once the traffic thinned. His office said oil prices had held steady and that the state needed to keep, in its words, a financial eye toward unexpected future needs.
Will the Suspension Come Back?
For now, the governor’s office says no additional extension is planned. The decision to let the break lapse rested on calmer crude markets, and that is also what could reverse it. A fresh oil shock, another flare-up overseas, or a sharp summer price run could put a new suspension back on the table, as it has in past Georgia summers.
Drivers do not control any of that. What they can read is the daily average. If crude stays where it is, the reinstated tax filters in over the next week and the marquee drifts up toward the low $4 range. The 33 cents that barely showed up on the way down is now the number every Georgia driver gets to watch on the way back up.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is Georgia’s gas tax now?
Georgia’s state motor fuel excise tax is 33.3 cents per gallon on regular gasoline and 37.3 cents per gallon on diesel. The rates are reset each year by a formula tied to average vehicle fuel efficiency and inflation, which is why they carry a decimal rather than a round number.
When did the Georgia gas tax suspension end?
The suspension officially expired at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. Motorists filling up after that deadline began seeing the reinstated tax reflected in pump prices, though the timing varies by station.
Will gas prices go up the full 33 cents right away?
Probably not all at once. Research on Georgia’s 2022 holiday found only 58 percent to 65 percent of a tax change reached drivers, and stations tend to reprice over several days as they sell through fuel bought before the deadline. Expect the increase to arrive gradually rather than overnight.
Did the gas tax holiday actually save Georgia drivers money?
The state estimated nearly $400 million in total savings, but the average pump price moved just one cent over the holiday, from $3.79 to $3.80. Much of the relief was offset by rising oil prices and partly absorbed by suppliers rather than passed to drivers in full.
Does the suspension affect local gas taxes?
No. Only the state excise tax was suspended. Local prepaid sales taxes and other local levies on fuel stayed in effect the entire time, so they continued to appear in the price you paid.
Is Georgia’s gas tax suspension coming back?
The governor’s office says no further extension is planned at this time. A renewed suspension would likely depend on another sharp rise in oil or gasoline prices, similar to the conditions that prompted the original break in March.
