Indiana’s monthslong break from its state gas tax is scheduled to end October 5, and drivers there could see prices jump by as much as 60 cents a gallon once it does. The state has gone without collecting either of its two fuel taxes since spring, under a suspension Governor Mike Braun renewed more than once. Whether the increase actually arrives on October 6 depends on a decision Braun has said he plans to make around that date.
What The Suspension Currently Covers
Indiana’s fuel taxes come in two parts: a 36-cent-per-gallon excise tax and a separate gasoline use tax, currently calculated at roughly 7 percent of the wholesale price. Together, the suspension covers about 62.5 cents a gallon, according to a September 22 report on the state’s gas-tax holiday. The Department of Revenue normally recalculates the use-tax portion every month based on wholesale gas prices, which is why the combined figure moves slightly even when the excise tax itself stays fixed; the Department’s own gasoline use tax page describes that monthly recalculation as standard practice outside of any suspension.
Most states charge only a single per-gallon excise tax on gasoline, which makes Indiana’s two-tax structure somewhat unusual. The excise tax is a flat charge collected on every gallon regardless of price, while the use tax behaves more like a sales tax, rising and falling with the wholesale cost of fuel itself. Suspending only one of the two would have left drivers paying a smaller, but still noticeable, tax at the pump; suspending both is what produced the roughly 62.5-cent break Indiana drivers have had since the spring.
Inside the kit: The five kinds of property-tax relief, the circuit-breaker credit that includes renters, and help with heating, cooling and home-repair costs, the expenses a household still has to manage after a suspended gas tax runs out. Open the heating and cooling help in The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit.
The October 5 Deadline And What Comes After
A Newsweek report published September 24 separately confirmed Indiana’s suspension is in effect through October 5, matching the date in the sales.tax report. If the suspension is not renewed, drivers could see prices rise by up to 60 cents a gallon in the days that follow, according to that report, as the excise tax and use tax both resume being collected at the pump. Indiana’s own gas prices had been running noticeably below the national average during the suspension, at roughly $3.44 a gallon as of early September against a $4.26 national average at that time, a gap the tax break was largely responsible for. By late September, both Indiana and the national number had climbed further, but the state’s discount relative to its neighbors has remained one of the more visible effects of the suspension.
Indiana is not the only state that has suspended its gas tax this year. Georgia ran its own excise-tax suspension from March 20 through June 2, a shorter break of roughly 33 cents a gallon, showing that a full statewide suspension, rather than a smaller percentage cut, has become a tool more than one governor has reached for when gas and diesel prices climb. Indiana’s version is both larger in size and longer in duration than Georgia’s was, having already run for several months compared with Georgia’s roughly ten-week break.
What The Suspension Has Cost The State
Suspending both taxes costs Indiana roughly $140 million a month in lost revenue, according to the same report, with the total cost of the suspension since it began running to roughly $500 million. The state has been able to absorb that loss without cutting road spending by drawing on a reserve fund of about $5 billion, though continuing the suspension indefinitely would draw that reserve down further each month it stays in place. Gas taxes typically fund road construction and maintenance, so a prolonged suspension eventually raises the question of how those projects get paid for once the reserve is no longer covering the gap, even though that question has not forced a decision yet.
Governor Braun’s Reevaluation
As October 5 approaches, Indiana drivers have no way to know in advance which way the tax will go, since Braun has not signaled a preference publicly. Braun has said he will reevaluate whether to extend the suspension again around October 6, the day after it is currently set to expire, rather than announcing a decision in advance. He has extended the suspension more than once already since it began in the spring, each time citing the same energy-emergency authority that let him suspend the taxes in the first place without waiting for the legislature to act. Nothing in his public comments so far rules out doing so again. Until Braun acts, the October 5 expiration remains the operative date, and drivers filling up in Indiana in the days afterward will not know for certain which way the tax stands until he does. A driver filling an average 15-gallon tank would feel roughly a 9-dollar difference if the full 60-cent increase arrives at once, though prices at individual stations rarely move in a single step.
A Gas Tax That Could Return October 6, And Home Costs That Already Have Deadlines
A 60-cent jump at the pump would land on Indiana drivers within days if the suspension is not renewed, and unlike that tax, most home-cost relief does not arrive automatically once a filing window opens. Property-tax freezes, exemptions and utility assistance typically require paperwork submitted before a specific date, not a governor’s single decision.
The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit covers the 5 kinds of property-tax relief and includes an application log and renewal calendar for tracking which filing windows are still open.
Compare the property-tax freeze and exemption options in The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Dates and figures are linked to the reports where they were confirmed.
