Federal Gas Tax: Household Expenditures from 1965 to 1995

BTS Productshttps://doi.org/10.21949/15013991997PDFBriefUnited States. Department of Transportation. Bureau of Transportation StatisticsUnited States. Department of Transportation. Bureau of Transportation StatisticsUnited StatesFuel taxesHighway user taxationEconomic impactsStatisticsGraphsFederal motor fuel taxesHousehold expendituresUnited StatesBTS/97-TS/2While federal motor fuel taxes increased in current dollars from 4 cents per gallon in 1965 to 18.4 cents per gallon in 1995, the impact on household expenditures, in constant dollars, has actually shown a decline. This report traces household expenditures on federal motor fuel taxes and the trends in vehicle travel and fuel economy over three decades. These calculations are based on data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Highway Statistics by the Federal Highway Administration, and the Transportation Energy Data Book by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Gasoline, diesel, and gasohol expenditures are differentiated. Relationships between vehicle travel, fuel consumption, and expenditures are used to estimate federal motor fuel taxes paid per household for the years prior to 1984, when annual CES data are not available.123