Illinois drivers are paying a motor fuel tax that was held steady by a six-month pause, and the pause ends on December 31, 2026. Public Act 104-0468, signed June 16, 2026, suspended the increase that was scheduled to take effect July 1, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue.
The rates in force through December 31 are 48.3 cents a gallon on gasoline and 55.8 cents on diesel. The department has not published the rates that apply from January 1, 2027.
The question for a household is what to set up before the pause runs out. Illinois adjusts its fuel tax each July 1, so a freeze that stops on December 31 leaves drivers and anyone who budgets around pump prices unsure about January. The state has not said what the rate will be, only that the paused adjustment covers July 1 through December 31.
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What the law paused
The Illinois Department of Revenue’s notice FY 2026-23-A, dated June 23, 2026, says the act “suspended the scheduled July 1, 2026, Consumer Price Index adjustment related to the motor fuel tax rate” for six months, from July 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026. The department then recalculated the rates.
The notice replaces an earlier bulletin, FY 2026-23, which had set rates for the full year from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. That earlier version no longer applies.
How the yearly increase works
Under Section 2 of the Motor Fuel Tax Law, the department’s bulletin explains, the rate rises each July 1 by the percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers over the 12 months ending in March. The result is rounded to the nearest one-tenth of a cent.
Transport Topics reported on July 24, 2026 that the adjustment now on hold would have raised the motor fuel tax rate by 2.68 percent. The trade outlet attributed no quotes about the pause to any Illinois official and said state lawmakers opted for the halt as part of a finance and tax package adopted June 16.
What drivers pay through December 31
For July 1 through December 31, the department’s bulletin lists gasoline, including gasohol, at 48.3 cents a gallon, and diesel, including biodiesel, at 55.8 cents. Propane and liquefied natural gas are 55.8 cents per diesel gallon equivalent, and compressed natural gas is 48.3 cents per gasoline gallon equivalent.
These are the state’s per-gallon motor fuel taxes. They are separate from federal fuel taxes and from any local or sales taxes added at the pump.
Transport Topics ran its report under the headline “Fuel taxes rise in several states as Illinois hits pause,” which puts the Illinois decision against a year when other states let scheduled fuel tax increases go through. Illinois chose the opposite for the second half of 2026, with an end date of December 31 that applies to every driver and every fuel type the department lists, from gasoline and diesel to propane and natural gas.
What nobody has published for January
Neither Department of Revenue document states a rate for January 1, 2027, and neither says whether a new law will extend the pause. Any change would have to come from the legislature or from the department’s own recalculation, and no announcement has been made as of October 23.
On a 20-gallon fill-up of gasoline, 48.3 cents a gallon works out to $9.66 in state motor fuel tax. The scheduled adjustment of 2.68 percent, according to Transport Topics, is the size of the increase the pause held off, and the department’s notice describes the result as a suspension, not a repeal.
That wording matters for anyone budgeting a winter of commutes, doctor visits and grocery runs by car. A suspension has an end date written into it. Nothing in the notice says the adjustment is cancelled, so the January rate is a question the department and the legislature have yet to answer in public.
Illinois fuel tax pause ending and winter bills ahead?
The Illinois pause ends December 31, the same week many households are already paying their highest heating bills of the year. A budget built on today’s fuel costs can come up short in January without any notice.
The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit does not cover the motor fuel tax. It turns to the bills nearer the house: it includes heating, cooling and home-repair help for older homeowners and an application log and renewal calendar, with a yearly routine for what to apply for and when.
Get the heating-help kit and renewal calendar before the Illinois fuel tax pause ends →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
