Michigan Gas Tax Calculator

This calculator estimates how much Michigan fuel tax you pay in a year and how that compares with 2025, based on your miles driven, your vehicle's fuel economy, your typical pump price, and fuel type. It applies Michigan's 2026 per-gallon tax of 52.4 cents to your annual gallons, compares it with the 31-cent rate that applied in 2025, and subtracts the 6% sales tax Michigan no longer charges at the pump, so you see the net effect on your budget. It is for informational purposes only, and the results are estimates.

For the background on the 2026 change, read the Michigan gas tax guide.

What changed at the pump in 2026

Until the end of 2025, Michigan drivers paid two state taxes on fuel: a per-gallon motor fuel tax of 31 cents, and the 6% state sales tax on the purchase. Starting January 1, 2026, Michigan stopped charging sales tax on motor fuel and raised the per-gallon tax to make up for it. The calculator models that swap with these figures:

The 52.4-cent rate comes from Public Act 20 of 2025, which set a 51-cent base and indexed it to inflation. Michigan Treasury's November 25, 2025 notice shows the math: 51 cents × 1.027 (the 2.7% CPI change for the year ending September 2025) = 52.377 cents, rounded up to 52.4. Treasury's updated notice on Public Acts 17–20 confirms that gasoline and diesel are exempt from sales and use tax from January 1, 2026, and that the 1-cent environmental protection regulatory fee on refined petroleum continues.

The calculator leaves the 1-cent fee out because it was charged in both years and does not change your net impact. It is why the Tax Foundation's gas taxes by state table lists Michigan at 53.4 cents for July 2026 (52.4 + 1.0).

How the calculator works

1. Annual gallons = miles per year ÷ miles per gallon.
2. 2025 fuel tax = gallons × $0.31.
3. 2026 fuel tax = gallons × the 2026 rate you enter (52.4 cents by default).
4. Per-gallon increase = gallons × (2026 rate − 31.0 cents), which is $0.214 at the default.
5. Sales tax no longer paid = gallons × your average pump price × 6%. The price defaults to $3.50; change it to what you actually pay.
6. Net impact = per-gallon increase − sales tax no longer paid.

The 2026 rate is editable so you can test the 2027 rate once Treasury announces it, usually in late November, or model a what-if.

It also shows a table of the same math at different mileages. At 25 MPG and $3.50 gas, the table looks like this:

Finally, the calculator adds a five-year projection that raises the per-gallon rate by an assumed 3% a year (the law caps increases at 5%), rounding up to the next tenth of a cent as Treasury does.

Getting accurate inputs

• Miles per year. Subtract last year's odometer reading (from an oil change receipt, inspection record, or service app) from today's, and scale to 12 months. If you just started a new commute, multiply the round-trip distance by about 240 working days and add weekend driving.
• MPG. Use your car's trip computer averaged over a few tanks, or the combined rating on fueleconomy.gov. For trucks that tow or carry loads, use your real-world figure; it can be 20% or more below the rating.
• More than one vehicle. Run the calculator once per vehicle and add the results. A household with a 25-MPG sedan driven 12,000 miles and a 17-MPG SUV driven 10,000 miles buys about 480 + 588 = 1,068 gallons a year, which is about $560 of Michigan fuel tax at 52.4 cents.
• Diesel. Choose diesel for diesel pickups and vans. Michigan taxes it at the same per-gallon rate as gasoline, so the only difference in the result comes from your MPG.

Why Michigan swapped the sales tax for a per-gallon tax

Michigan's constitution dedicates motor fuel tax revenue to transportation, while the sales tax mostly funds the School Aid Fund and revenue sharing with local governments. Collecting the same money through a per-gallon tax instead of the sales tax therefore moves road-user dollars to road funding, which was the stated goal of the 2025 road funding package. For drivers, the change also makes the tax more predictable: you pay the same cents per gallon whether gas is $2.90 or $4.20.

Worked examples

Commuter car: 15,000 miles at 25 MPG

• Gallons: 15,000 ÷ 25 = 600
• 2026 Michigan fuel tax: 600 × $0.524 = $314.40
• 2025 Michigan fuel tax: 600 × $0.31 = $186.00
• Per-gallon increase: 600 × $0.214 = $128.40
• Sales tax no longer charged: 600 × $3.50 × 6% = $126.00
• Net change: +$2.40 a year

Pickup truck: 12,000 miles at 15 MPG

• Gallons: 12,000 ÷ 15 = 800
• 2026 Michigan fuel tax: 800 × $0.524 = $419.20
• Per-gallon increase: 800 × $0.214 = $171.20
• Sales tax no longer charged: 800 × $3.50 × 6% = $168.00
• Net change: +$3.20 a year

High-mileage driver: 30,000 miles at 30 MPG

• Gallons: 1,000
• 2026 Michigan fuel tax: $524
• Per-gallon increase: $214; sales tax no longer charged: $210
• Net change: +$4 a year

In each case the total state tax a driver pays is close to what it was in 2025. The trade-off is that the tax is now fixed per gallon instead of rising and falling with prices.

The break-even gas price

Because the old sales tax scaled with price and the new tax does not, whether you pay more or less depends on what gas costs. Divide the increase by the old sales tax rate: $0.214 ÷ 0.06 = about $3.57 per gallon.

When prices are low, drivers pay a bit more than under the old system; when prices spike, they pay less. For a driver using 600 gallons a year, the swing between $3 and $4 gas is about $36 a year.

How Michigan compares with its neighbors

State gasoline taxes as of July 2026, from the Tax Foundation. Its figures count every state-level per-gallon charge, including Michigan's 1-cent fee and, in Illinois and Indiana, sales taxes still charged on fuel, so they are higher than each state's excise rate alone:

Drivers near the Ohio line save about 15 cents a gallon by filling up in Ohio, roughly $90 a year at 600 gallons. Indiana and Illinois are more expensive than Michigan, so the incentive runs the other way along those borders. For a closer look at the Toledo corridor, read Michigan vs Ohio gas tax.

Using the five-year projection

The projection shows what your annual fuel tax would be if the per-gallon rate rose 3% a year: about 54.0 cents in 2027, 55.7 cents in 2028, 57.4 cents in 2029, and 59.2 cents in 2030. Each January 1 the rate rises by the lesser of 5% or the change in the U.S. consumer price index for the year ending the prior September, so treat the projection as a scenario rather than a forecast.

For a 600-gallon driver, a 3% rate increase adds roughly $9 to $10 a year. Improving fuel economy has a much bigger effect: moving from 25 MPG to 35 MPG at 15,000 miles cuts annual gallons from 600 to about 429 and Michigan fuel tax from $314 to about $225.

Business use: deductions and inventory

• Mileage deduction. If you deduct business driving using the IRS standard mileage rate, fuel tax is already built into the rate; you cannot deduct it separately.
• Actual expenses. If you use actual vehicle expenses, fuel (including the tax) is part of the deductible cost for the business-use share.
• Fleets and fuel inventory. Businesses that held fuel in storage when the rate changed may have owed a one-time inventory tax on the difference; see the Michigan fuel inventory tax calculator. Interstate truckers report fuel tax by jurisdiction through IFTA, covered in the IFTA tax calculator.

Limits of this estimate

• The sales tax comparison is only as good as the pump price you enter. Use a full-year average rather than today's price, or check the break-even table above.
• The calculator covers Michigan state tax only. The federal excise tax of 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents on diesel applies on top.
• MPG on the window sticker is usually higher than real-world mileage in winter, so using a slightly lower MPG gives a more realistic estimate for Michigan driving.