Will County Gazette

Pain at the pump due to the Ukrainian conflict is worsened by Illinois' second-highest per gallon gas tax rate in the country. State Rep. Mark Batinick is hoping to change that by limiting the sales tax on fuel. 

“Illinois charges a state sales tax and some parts of the state have local taxes on top of that. I filed HB 5723 to lower those taxes,” Batinick told Will County Gazette.

If the measure that was filed early March, will be enacted into law, it will immediately amend various tax acts: Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. “The cents per gallon rate established by the Department of Revenue for the prepayment of tax by motor fuel retailers may not exceed $0.18 per gallon for motor fuel and 80% of that amount for gasohol and biodiesel blends,” the text of HB 5723 reads.

Batinick is working on reducing taxes while Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who has suggested a freeze has not yet acted on the proposal he made in February. In his early term, he signed a bill that has caused the gas tax to double.

Illinoisans pay 77.96 cents per gallon for taxes alone, IllinoisPolicy.org reported. That is federal and state taxes combined. Across the border to the west, Missouri pays the second-lowest gas tax. In Illinois, a gallon of gas costs 42 cents more than in Missouri due to differing tax policies.