Nebraska gas tax set for automatic increase July 1

Prices at the pump in Nebraska could be about 4 cents a gallon higher, thanks to an automatic increase in the state’s gas tax set to take effect July 1. Today, the Nebraska Department of Revenue issued the latest figures for the gas tax, which is recalculated twice a year in accordance with state law.

The total gas tax will increase from 29.3 cents a gallon to 33.2 cents. This latest increase comes following a slight reduction in the tax in January.

Nebraska’s gas tax is made up of three parts: a fixed-rate tax, a tax rate based on the wholesale price of gasoline, and a third variable component which the Department of Revenue says, in its latest news release, “is adjusted to meet legislative appropriations.”

With the price of gas still down from pre-COVID-19 levels, and consumption of fuel falling significantly, the wholesale tax rate fell by 0.7 cents a gallon, while the variable tax increased 4.6 cents a gallon.

The next recalculation of the state gas tax will take effect at the beginning of 2021.