Colorado gas tax
State fuel excise · tax year 2026 · federal tax excluded
On a 20-gallon fill
$4.40
Over 500 gallons
$110
Per gallon
22.0¢
state only
Rate rank
39
1 is the highest
What Colorado charges at the pump
- Here is what Colorado takes at the pump. Twenty gallons carries $4.40 of state fuel tax. Five hundred gallons over a year carries $110. It is built into the posted price, so nobody ever sees it itemized, and the state ranks 39 nationally on the rate.
- In Colorado diesel is taxed no more heavily than ordinary fuel. Twenty gallons carries $4.10 against $4.40. That is unusual — most of the country adds a premium to diesel — and it quietly matters to anyone running a van or a truck here.
- Colorado adds a little more beyond the main fuel tax. Inspection and environmental charges come to $1.64 on a twenty-gallon fill. It is not large, and it is not optional either.
- State fuel excise in Colorado amounts to $4.40 per twenty-gallon fill and $110 per five hundred gallons, with a rate ranking 39 nationally. ⚠️ The federal component is excluded. Unlike sales tax, fuel excise is embedded in the posted price rather than added at the register, which is why it is among the least visible taxes most households pay routinely.
- Diesel and gasoline are taxed at parity or with diesel favored in Colorado, at $4.10 and $4.40 per twenty gallons respectively. ⚠️ Since most states impose a diesel premium, the absence of one here is a structural feature worth noting in any comparison of operating costs across neighboring jurisdictions.
- Beyond the principal excise, Colorado levies separately-reported charges on motor fuel worth $1.64 per twenty gallons. ⚠️ Because states differ in whether such charges are consolidated into the headline rate or reported apart, cross-state rate tables — including the rank on this page — are not strictly comparable at the margin.
Your year of fuel tax
A $75,000 salary
| State fuel taxper gallon | 22¢ |
|---|---|
| Fuel tax, year | $137 |
| You must earn | $208 |
| Hours of work | 5.8 hr |
State excise only. Federal fuel tax and any local levy are not included.
Tax in a tank
A $75,000 salary
| State rate | 22¢ a gallon |
|---|---|
| Tank costs | $44.80 |
| Fifty tanks a year | $154.00 |
State excise only. The federal fuel tax and any local levy are on top of this.
Gasoline, diesel, and the charges reported separately
Per-gallon rates are shown as Colorado publishes them, to a tenth of a cent. The money columns are what those rates come to on a 20-gallon fill and across 500 gallons. Federal tax is charged on top of all of it and is not included.
| Fuel | Per gallon | On a fill | Over a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline | 22.0¢ | $4.40 | $110 |
| Diesel | 20.5¢ | $4.10 | $103 |
| Other state charges | 8.2¢ | $1.64 | — |
What this page cannot tell you
- ⚠️ Federal fuel tax is charged on top of all this and is not included above. It is the same everywhere in the country.
- The tank and the year here are round reference amounts, not a guess at your driving. Your own total scales directly with the gallons you actually buy in Colorado.
- And some places add local fuel taxes of their own on top of the state's. Those are not counted here.
- ⚠️ Federal motor fuel excise applies in addition to every figure on this page and is deliberately excluded, being uniform nationally. Including it would raise each state's figure by the same amount and compress the differences this page exists to show.
- Quantities are reference points rather than estimates of consumption: liability is strictly proportional to gallons purchased, so any household's figure is this one scaled by its own volume. ⚠️ Fuel purchased outside Colorado is taxed by the state where it is bought, which is why the figures describe purchases rather than mileage.
- Local option fuel taxes exist in a number of states and are excluded from these figures, which cover the state levy only. Where a county or city in Colorado imposes its own charge, the true per-gallon burden at that address exceeds what this page reports.
Questions people ask
Why is there no tax line on my fuel receipt?
The tax is collected upstream and per gallon, not at the register. That is why the sign price is the final price, and why a cheaper week does not mean a smaller tax.
Is this a cheap state for this?
It sits low, at 39 of 51. That is the tax rather than the price — the rest of what you pay is production and margin.
Is diesel taxed the same as gasoline?
Different rate entirely — lower than gasoline here. The split is deliberate and rests on which vehicles do most damage to the road surface.
Why does motor fuel excise not appear as a separate charge?
Motor fuel excise is levied per gallon at the distributor or terminal, not at retail, so it is embedded in the pump price and not separately stated. Because it is volumetric rather than ad valorem, liability per gallon is invariant to the retail price and its real value erodes with inflation absent legislative change.
Where does this state sit in the national distribution?
This state ranks 39 of 51, in the lower third. ⚠️ Excise rank is a poor proxy for retail price: production, distribution and retail margin dominate the final figure, and the tax component is the only part under state control.
How does the diesel rate relate to the gasoline rate here?
Diesel is taxed at a rate set independently of gasoline and is lower in this state. The differential is generally justified by road-wear attribution to heavy vehicles rather than by fuel characteristics, and several states index the two grades differently.