Texas Gas Tax

Texas taxes gasoline at a flat 20.0¢ a gallon. The rate has not changed since 1991 and is not indexed to inflation, so its value in constant dollars has fallen by more than half since it was set. Gasoline is exempt from the state sales tax.

The EIA lists no other per-gallon fee, but Texas does charge a petroleum product delivery fee on each load withdrawn from a terminal or refinery, set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality by load size: for example $5.45 for a load of 5,000 to 8,000 gallons, a small fraction of a cent per gallon. It funds the Petroleum Storage Tank Remediation Fund.

In the EIA’s July 2026 (revised August 2026) table, Texas’s state taxes and fees total 20.0¢ a gallon, tied for the 5th-lowest of the 50 states and D.C., against a 51-jurisdiction average of 33.8¢. Only 4 jurisdictions rank below it. The low tax is one factor in Texas’s position among the cheapest states for gasoline, alongside its refining capacity; the Texas gas prices page covers both.

Texas and Oklahoma charge the same total state tax, 20.0¢ a gallon, which leaves the two tied for the 5th-lowest. They reach the figure differently. The whole Texas amount is excise, while Oklahoma’s is an excise of 19.0¢ plus a 1.0¢ storage tank fee.

To the east, Louisiana charges 20.9¢ and Arkansas 25.0¢, both above Texas. New Mexico, at 18.9¢, is the only bordering state with a lower rate, so El Paso drivers who cross into Las Cruces or Sunland Park pay slightly less state tax, not more. The EIA flags none of these five states for local option fuel taxes, so county and city charges do not blur the comparison.

In Texas the federal tax of 18.4¢ is almost as large as the state tax. Together they make 38.4¢, and the state’s part is only just over half of that. The average state tax across the 51 jurisdictions is 33.8¢, well above the Texas figure. With no indexing, each year of inflation lowers what the fixed rate buys in road work, but it does not change the per-gallon amount a driver pays.

Oklahoma and Texas sit at 20.0¢ each in the EIA's July 2026 table, a gap of 0.0¢. Of the 4 states that border Texas, New Mexico has the lowest state total at 18.9¢ (EIA table, July 2026), and Arkansas has the highest at 25.0¢. Louisiana is listed at 20.9¢ (EIA table, July 2026), so Texas is 0.9¢ below Louisiana, and Texas is 5.0¢ below Arkansas. Texas is 1.1¢ (EIA table, July 2026) above New Mexico. In the EIA's July 2026 table, 2 of 4 bordering states have a higher state total.

Texas is tied for 5th-lowest in the same July 2026 table, and 45 jurisdictions have a higher state total while 4 have a lower one. The lowest state total listed is 9.0¢ (EIA table, July 2026) (Alaska), and the highest is 73.6¢ (California). The average state total is 33.8¢ (EIA table, July 2026), which puts Texas 13.8¢ below it.

All 20.0¢ (EIA table, July 2026) of the Texas total is excise, and the other state taxes and fees come to 0.0¢. Excise is 100% (EIA table, July 2026) of the state total. Adding the federal tax of 18.4¢ (EIA table, July 2026) gives 38.4¢, and the state's share of that combined figure is 52%.

The rates come from the EIA's July 2026 table, which lists state taxes of general application. County and local taxes are excluded, and the table shows no local option gasoline taxes for Texas.