Pennsylvania gas tax to rise in January

PITTSBURGH — Beginning Jan. 1, 2017, the Pennsylvania state tax on gasoline wholesale prices is set to increase by eight cents per gallon, according to Channel 11 News' exchange partner TribLive.

The price increase is the result of a change to state law Act 89 made in 2013, that also increased the tax in 2015. It is based off of Pennsylvania's "average wholesale price" for gasoline and diesel, according to TribLive.

Instead of being an average of wholesale prices, at least for the year 2017, this figure will be set at a minimum of $2.99 per gallon regardless of actual liquid fuel wholesale prices, TribLive reported.

According to TribLive, this wholesale price then will be entered into a formula with other state-defined per gallon tax rates to reach a pre-federal tax rate of about 58 cents per gallon. Including federal taxes, set at just over 18 cents per gallon, motorists in Pennsylvania will be paying around 76 cents in taxes per gallon at the pump.

Act 89 set the prices in wholesale gasoline tax and eliminated tax collected by gas stations at the time of purchase, TribLive reported. It was replaced with a tax paid on "oil company franchise tax."

Even before the scheduled rise in taxes goes into effect, Pennsylvania already has the highest per gallon tax on gasoline of any state in the country at 50 cents per gallon.

PennDOT Communications Directory, Richard Kirkpatrick, told TribLive that money from gas tax benefits funding the state police, infrastructure and bridge and roadway construction.

Even though Pennsylvania has the highest state tax on fuel, California and Hawaii have the highest priced gasoline in the country, according to Gasbuddy.com. Oklahoma has the lowest gas price.

Cox Media Group