FACT CHECK: Did Florida Eliminate Its Statewide Gas Tax?

A post shared on Facebook claims the state of Florida eliminated its statewide gas tax.

Verdict: Misleading

While Florida’s legislature passed a bill that suspended its gas tax for October, the bill has not yet been signed by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and would not eliminate the gas tax permanently.

Fact Check: 

Gas prices in the U.S. recently reached a record high, topping $4.33 a gallon on average, according to the American Automobile Association. Several states have considered temporarily waiving their gas taxes in an effort to combat rising prices, CBS News reported.

A post shared on Facebook claims “Florida just eliminated their state tax on gas.” (RELATED: Does This Picture Show How Low Gas Prices Were The Day Biden Took Office?)

This claim is misleading. While Florida’s legislature passed Florida House Bill 7071, which would temporarily suspend the gas tax for October 2022, the bill will not eliminate the gas tax permanently, according to WPTV, an NBC-affiliated news outlet.

“The Act exempts motor fuel from the statutory county fuel tax, municipal fuel tax, State Comprehensive Enhanced Transportation System Tax, and fuel sales tax, which equates to 25.3 cents per gallon,” Bethany Wester, the communications director for the Florida Department of Revenue, told Check Your Fact in an email. She added that the legislature “has not sent the bill to the Governor for signature or veto.”

Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects with the Tax Foundation, told Check Your Fact via phone that the gas tax suspension was temporary and noted that Georgia and Maryland had also passed gas tax suspensions.

“But all three of these [states] and the other proposals being considered in other states are for temporary suspension of the gas tax, not permanent repeal,” Walczak said.

This is not the first time current gas prices have been subject to misinformation. Check Your Fact recently debunked an image that claimed to show $9 gas in the state of California.

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