Vermont Gas Tax

Vermont’s per-gallon excise is only 12.1¢, one of the lowest in the country, but most of its gasoline tax comes from two assessments tied to the retail price. The Motor Fuel Tax Assessment is 4 percent of the average retail price of gasoline, with a minimum of 13.4¢ and a maximum of 18¢ a gallon, and goes to the Transportation Fund. The Motor Fuel Transportation Infrastructure Assessment is 2 percent of that price, with a minimum of 3.96¢, and goes to the Transportation Infrastructure Bond Fund. A flat 1¢ petroleum distributor licensing fee funds petroleum spill cleanup.

Both assessments are recalculated every quarter from the prior quarter’s average retail price, excluding taxes. When prices are low they sit at their minimums, and when prices rise the percentage takes over, so Vermont’s tax changes several times a year without legislation.

In the EIA’s July 2026 (revised August 2026) table, Vermont’s state taxes and fees total 31.3¢ a gallon, the 25th-highest of the 50 states and D.C., against a 51-jurisdiction average of 33.8¢. The EIA counts the assessments as fees rather than excise, which is why Vermont’s excise is among the lowest in the table while its total is much higher. Pump prices are on the Vermont gas prices page.

Among the states bordering Vermont, Massachusetts has the highest state total in the EIA's July 2026 table, at 27.6¢, and New Hampshire has the lowest, at 23.7¢. New York sits at 24.2¢ (EIA table, July 2026). Vermont's own total of 31.3¢ (EIA table, July 2026) is higher than all 3 of them, recorded as 0 of 3 bordering states above it. Vermont's total is 3.7¢ (EIA table, July 2026) above Massachusetts's, it is 7.1¢ above New York's, and it is 7.5¢ above New Hampshire's.

In the same July 2026 table, 19.2¢ of Vermont's state total comes from taxes and fees other than excise, and excise is 39% of that total. The federal tax of 18.4¢ (EIA table, July 2026) is the same in every state, and once it is added the state's part is 63% of the combined amount.

Vermont's rank of 25th-highest (EIA table, July 2026) has 24 jurisdictions above it and 26 below it. State totals in the July 2026 table run from 9.0¢ in Alaska to 73.6¢ in California, with an average of 33.8¢, and Vermont's total falls 2.5¢ below that average. Massachusetts's 27.6¢ (EIA table, July 2026) and New Hampshire's 23.7¢ both lie between Alaska's 9.0¢ and California's 73.6¢, as does New York's 24.2¢.