2026年4月16日 / 美国东部时间早上6:00 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
华盛顿——随着伊朗战争的后续影响持续推高燃油价格，几乎没有州采取行动暂停汽油和柴油税。
税务政策专家表示，暂停州级和联邦机动车燃油税并不像人们想象的那样能有效降低加油站油价，而且可能会损害驾驶员赖以生存的道路和桥梁。
根据美国能源信息署的数据，各州平均汽油税为每加仑32.6美分。据美国汽车协会（AAA）数据，周三美国全国平均汽油价格为4.11美元，而哥伦比亚广播公司最近的一项民调显示，51%的受访者表示汽油价格给他们带来了经济困难或财务压力。
自中东冲突爆发以来，只有少数几个州采取了措施减免机动车燃油税。佐治亚州上月成为首个暂停机动车燃油税的州，共和党州长布莱恩·坎普签署了一项为期60天的暂停令，暂停该州每加仑33美分的汽油税和每加仑37美分的柴油税。4月8日，印第安纳州共和党州长迈克·布劳恩发布行政命令，暂停该州7%的汽油销售税，为期30天。犹他州则暂时下调了州燃油税，但仅下调每加仑6美分，将该州2026年剩余时间的汽油税降至每加仑32美分。
坎普将暂停汽油税作为向纳税人返还州所得税退税法案的一部分签署，他表示为佐治亚州民众“带来切实的税收减免”而感到自豪。佐治亚州众议院议长乔恩·伯恩斯表示，暂停汽油税将在未来60天内为驾驶员节省“近4亿美元”。
但尽管驾驶员在加油站感受到的压力越来越大，大多数州仍不愿暂停征税。联邦政府也没有采取行动暂停联邦18.4美分的汽油税或24.3美分的柴油税，这需要国会通过法案才能实现。
税务政策专家表示，议员和州长们之所以犹豫不决是有充分理由的。
“归根结底，这是一种代价高昂的噱头，”税收与经济政策研究所研究主任卡尔·戴维斯说，“如果目标是将减税落到工薪阶层和中产阶级驾驶员手中，那么这一政策大多会落空。”
本月早些时候在《与玛格丽特·布伦南面对面》节目中亮相时，马里兰州民主党州长韦斯·摩尔多次被问及是否愿意暂停该州每加仑47美分的汽油税，但他均未给出肯定答复。他认为真正的问题是战争及其带来的不确定性，并表示他预计战争结束后汽油价格仍将居高不下。
“创可贴治不了坑洼，”税收基金会消费税政策主任亚当·霍弗说。对于担心高油价的驾驶员来说，“这解决不了任何问题，”他说。
戴维斯解释说，汽油税不同于销售税——暂停征税并不会将所有节省的成本直接传递给消费者。
“有证据表明，在这些短期汽油税调整中，一部分减税会惠及驾驶员，另一部分则不会，”戴维斯说，“其中一部分会被石油和燃油行业截留。”
2022年宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院的一项研究分析了马里兰州、佐治亚州和康涅狄格州的临时燃油税假期，发现驾驶员获得了部分减税优惠——但并非全部。在马里兰州，72%的减税被转嫁给了消费者。在佐治亚州和康涅狄格州，这一比例分别为62%和71%。其余部分被向联邦政府缴纳汽油税的燃油批发商或分销商吸收。当税收暂停时，他们可以选择保留部分节省下来的资金，而不是降低加油站的油价。
政策专家表示，汽油和柴油税本质上是道路的“使用者付费”——换句话说，使用道路的人缴税并从中受益。如果没有这些税收，最终受影响的还是驾驶员。戴维斯说，道路改善项目可能会被搁置或大幅推迟，坑洼可能得不到填补，驾驶员可能不得不意外前往修理厂修理轮胎。
“汽油税是各州为交通基础设施买单的最重要方式，因此暂停这些税收将大幅削减各州用于保障桥梁安全和道路良好养护的资金，”戴维斯说，“这可不是驾驶员应该乐见的事情。”
税收与经济政策研究所估计，佐治亚州在60天的暂停期内将损失约3.99亿美元的税收收入，而该州收入最低的60%人群每月仅能节省13美元。
“汽油税以道路养护、桥梁维修、交通网络扩建等形式直接惠及民众，”戴维斯说，“汽油税资助的这些项目，才让驾驶成为可能，让出行更安全、高效、舒心。”
霍弗表示，许多州已经在动用其他收入来源为道路项目提供资金，无法承担取消燃油税的损失。戴维斯说，各州可能不得不从其他领域抽调道路建设资金，比如学校拨款。
“就目前情况而言，大多数州都无法仅靠交通使用者付费来全额资助其交通系统，”他说。
“交通系统目前无法实现自给自足，”霍弗说，暂停汽油税“只会让这个问题变得更糟”。
戴维斯进一步指出，州级汽油税假期还意味着无法向州外驾驶员征税。关注预算的各州并不愿意放弃税收收入，来帮助过路车辆和商业卡车司机。
除了州外旅行者之外，暂停州级税收的这些考虑因素“在联邦层面也几乎完全一致”，霍弗说。联邦汽油税收入直接进入联邦公路信托基金，正如其他基金一样，该基金也在逐渐陷入资金不足的困境，霍弗说。
“我认为这就是目前我们看不到联邦层面相关提案的原因，”霍弗说。
前总统乔·拜登在2022年油价高企时曾提议暂停联邦汽油税，但国会民主党人否决了这一想法。2008年春季金融危机期间，时任总统候选人巴拉克·奥巴马驳回了竞争对手提出的暂停联邦汽油税的呼吁。
“好吧，让我告诉你，这不是一个能帮你度过夏天的主意，而是一个帮他们度过选举的主意，”奥巴马当时说道。
霍弗表示，即使税收被暂停，恢复征税也可能在不合时宜的时机打击驾驶员，而且没有人愿意看到税收再次上涨。
“暂停期限的长短可能会导致非常糟糕的时机，”霍弗说，“真正繁忙的夏季旅游旺季即将到来。”
高油价可能会成为一个更长期的问题。美国能源信息署预计，汽油和柴油价格将保持在此前预测的水平之上，直至2027年。今年1月，在伊朗战争爆发前，美国能源信息署曾预计2027年全国汽油平均价格为每加仑2.95美元。现在，该机构预计2027年汽油平均价格将达到每加仑3.46美元。
“尽管反对汽油税的人希望取消它，但这本质上是一个两败俱伤的政策，”霍弗说。
As Iran war drives up fuel prices, states are hesitant to suspend gas taxes. Here’s why.
April 16, 2026 / 6:00 AM EDT / CBS News
Washington— As fallout from the war with Iran keeps fuel prices high, few states are making moves to suspend their gas and diesel taxes.
Tax policy experts say suspending the state and federal motor fuel taxes wouldn’t be as effective in lowering prices at the pump as one might think, and could come at a cost to the roads and bridges that drivers depend on.
The average state gas tax is 32.6 cents per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The average gas price in the U.S. on Wednesday was $4.11, according to AAA, and 51% of respondents in a recent CBS News poll said gas prices have posed a financial hardship or been financially difficult for them.
Only a few states have taken steps to mitigate their motor fuel taxes since the conflict in the Middle East began. Georgia became the first state to suspend its motor fuel tax last month, with Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signing a 60-day suspension on the state’s 33-cent-per-gallon gas tax and 37-cent-per-gallon diesel tax. On April 8, Indiana’s Republican Gov. Mike Braun issued an executive order for a 30-day suspension of that state’s 7% gasoline sales tax. And Utah temporarily reduced its state fuel tax, but only by 6 cents on the gallon, bringing its state gas tax to 32 cents on the gallon for the remainder of 2026.
Kemp, who signed the gas tax suspension as a part of a bill sending state income tax refunds back to taxpayers, said he was proud to “deliver meaningful tax relief” to Georgians. Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns said the gas tax suspension would save drivers “nearly $400 million over the next 60 days.”
But most states have been hesitant to suspend their taxes, even as drivers are feeling more pain at the pump. The federal government isn’t making moves to suspend the federal 18.4-cent gas tax or 24.3-cent diesel tax either, which would require an act of Congress.
Lawmakers and governors have good reasons for being reluctant, tax policy experts said.
“The bottom line is it’s an expensive gimmick,” said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. “If the goal is to get tax cuts into the hands of working-class, middle-class drivers, it’s mostly going to miss the mark.”
Appearing on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” earlier this month, Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore declined multiple opportunities to say he’s open to suspending the state’s 47-cent-per-gallon gas tax. He argued the real problem is the war and the uncertainty it brings, and said he expects gas prices to remain elevated once the war ends.
“Band-Aids don’t fix potholes,” said Adam Hoffer, director of excise tax policy at the Tax Foundation. For drivers worried about high fuel prices, “this isn’t going to solve any of the problems,” he said.
Davis explained that gas taxes aren’t like a sales tax — suspending them won’t directly pass all of the savings to the consumer.
“The evidence suggests that with these short-term gas tax changes, some of the cut will get to drivers and some of it won’t,” Davis said. “Some of it will be retained along the way by the oil and fuel industries.”
A 2022 Penn Wharton study analyzing temporary fuel tax holidays in Maryland, Georgia and Connecticut found that drivers saw a chunk of the tax cut — but not all of it. In Maryland, 72% of the tax cut was passed on to consumers. In Georgia and Connecticut, the figure was 62% and 71% respectively. The rest was presumed to be absorbed by fuel wholesalers or distributors who pay the gas tax to the federal government. When the tax is suspended, they can choose to keep some of the money they’re saving rather than lowering prices at the pump.
Gas and diesel taxes are essentially a “user fee” for roadways, policy experts say — in other words, the people using the roads are the ones who pay the taxes and benefit from them. Without the taxes, it’s drivers who would ultimately see the downside. Road improvement projects could be placed on hold or significantly delayed. Potholes may go unfilled, Davis said, and drivers may have to make unplanned trips to the mechanic shop to fix their tires as a result.
“Gas taxes are the single most important way that states pay for transportation infrastructure, so when those taxes are suspended that takes a huge bite out of the funds states use to keep our bridges safe and our roads in good repair,” Davis said. “That’s not something drivers should be excited about.”
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates the state of Georgia will lose about $399 million in revenue over its 60-day suspension, and that the bottom 60% of earners in Georgia will save only $13 a month.
“The gas tax is benefitting them very directly in the form of road maintenance, bridge repair, expansions of the transportation network and so on,” Davis said. “These things that the gas tax pays for are what make it possible to drive at all and have a safe, efficient, enjoyable drive.”
Many states are already drawing upon other revenue sources to fund road projects and can’t afford to get rid of the tax, Hoffer said. States may have to pull resources for roads from other areas, like school funding, Davis said.
“Most states aren’t able to fully fund their transportation systems with transportation user fees as it is,” he said.
“The system isn’t fully supporting itself right now,” Hoffer said, and suspending the gas tax “is only going to make that problem worse.”
Further, Davis said, state gas tax holidays also mean revenue is not collected from out-of-state drivers. States keeping an eye on their budgets aren’t keen to give up revenue to help passersby and commercial drivers.
With the exception of out-of-state travelers, these considerations with suspending state taxes are “mirrored almost exactly to the federal level as well,” Hoffer said. The federal gas tax money goes directly into the federal Highway Trust Fund, which, just like others, is gradually becoming underfunded, Hoffer said.
“I think that’s the reason why we’re not seeing a federal proposal at this time,” Hoffer said.
Former President Joe Biden proposed a federal gas tax holiday in 2022 when gas prices were high, but congressional Democrats dismissed the idea. During the financial crisis in spring 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama dismissed his rivals’ calls for a federal gas tax suspension.
“Well, let me tell you, this isn’t an idea designed to get you through the summer, it’s designed to get them through an election,” Obama said at the time.
Even if the taxes were suspended, their reinstatement could hit drivers at a bad time, and no one likes to see taxes go up again, Hoffer said.
“The timing could be really poor depending on how long the suspension lasts,” Hoffer said. “The really heavy summer travel season is ahead of us.”
Higher gas prices will likely be a longer-term issue. The EIA expects gas and diesel prices to remain higher than previously projected into 2027. In January, before the war with Iran began, the EIA anticipated national gas prices to average $2.95 per gallon in 2027. Now, it projects gas prices will be $3.46 per gallon on average in 2027.
“This is kind of a no-win policy, as much as opponents of the gas tax would like to see it go away,” Hoffer said.
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