Indiana gas tax rising slightly in August

Indiana’s sales tax on gasoline will actually rise slightly starting August 1 even though pump prices have dropped more than 11% from a month ago.

A total of 62.4 cents per gallon in state taxes will be charged during August, the Indiana Department of Revenue announced this week.

That will be up three-tenths of a cent from July’s record-high rate based on the agency’s calculations of statewide average gasoline prices over the past month — despite AAA reporting Indiana’s average price dropping to $4.58 a gallon as of Monday from $5.15 a month earlier.

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and legislative leaders have rejected calls to temporarily suspend state gas taxes to aid residents amid the high national inflation rate.

Holcomb, instead, has asked legislators to approve $225 payments from the growing state budget surplus to all taxpayers during a special legislative session that starts next week. Indiana has two taxes on gasoline — a 7% sales tax and a tax directed to infrastructure projects.