New Hampshire’s gas tax, officially called the road toll, is $0.222 per gallon on both gasoline and diesel. It has not changed since July 1, 2014, when SB 367 raised it from $0.18, and no bill to increase it has passed the General Court in the decade since.1New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 260:32 – Levy of Tolls and Exemptions
What You Pay at the Pump
The $0.222 state road toll is collected from fuel distributors before gasoline reaches the station, so it is already baked into the price you see.2NH Division of Administration. Road Toll On top of that, the federal excise tax adds 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents on diesel. For a gallon of regular gas, that puts the combined state and federal tax load at roughly 40.6 cents.
Some published figures show New Hampshire’s state-level total closer to 23.8 cents because they fold in small ancillary charges like oil inspection fees. The road toll itself, the number set by statute, is $0.222. Commercial carriers filing under the International Fuel Tax Agreement see the same $0.222 figure in the IFTA rate matrix.3IFTA, Inc. Tax Rate Matrix
How the Rate Got to $0.222
Before 2014, the base rate was $0.18 per gallon. SB 367 added a one-time inflation adjustment under RSA 260:32-a, multiplying the base by the ratio of the 2013 Consumer Price Index to the 2003 CPI for the Boston-Nashua metro area. That produced an adjustment factor of 1.231 and the current $0.222 rate.4New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 260:32-a – Adjustment of Road Toll; Publication
RSA 260:32-a has since been repealed. That matters: the CPI adjustment mechanism is gone, so the rate no longer moves with inflation. Unlike states that index their fuel taxes annually, New Hampshire’s rate only changes if the legislature passes a new law.
The 2034 Sunset
The 4.2-cent increase from SB 367 was not written to be permanent. The law includes a repeal trigger: the increase expires either 20 years after enactment, in 2034, or when the bonding for the I-93 widening between Salem and Manchester is paid off, whichever comes first.5New Hampshire Department of Transportation. Road Toll – SB367 Absent new legislation, the road toll would drop back to $0.18 per gallon at that point.
Where the Money Goes
The SB 367 portion generates roughly $34 million per year. About 12 percent flows to municipal block grant aid for local roads under RSA 235:5. The largest share goes to TIFIA loan repayments for the I-93 project, with principal and interest payments of about $23 million annually from 2026 through 2034. The remainder funds state-aid municipal bridge repairs and additional paving.5New Hampshire Department of Transportation. Road Toll – SB367
How New Hampshire Compares
Among New England states, New Hampshire sits at the low end. Maine charges about 30 cents per gallon, Vermont roughly 33 cents, and Massachusetts around 24 cents. Only Massachusetts comes close, and even that depends on which ancillary fees each state bundles into its published total. Nationally, state fuel taxes range from about 9 cents to over 70 cents per gallon, putting New Hampshire in the bottom half.
Why Increase Proposals Keep Failing
Bills to raise the road toll or restore an indexing formula have surfaced in most biennial budget cycles since 2014. None have been enacted. Supporters point to rising construction costs, inflation eroding a fixed per-gallon rate, and projected shortfalls in the state’s ten-year transportation plan.
The underlying math problem is familiar. Vehicles get more fuel-efficient every year, electric vehicles buy no gasoline at all, and a fixed-rate toll produces less real revenue as time passes. The federal gas tax has been stuck at 18.4 cents since 1993, and the Highway Trust Fund it feeds is projected to go insolvent by 2028. New Hampshire faces the same squeeze on a smaller scale, but political appetite for a higher pump price has stayed low, and no increase bill has cleared the General Court since SB 367.
Electric Vehicle Fees
EV owners pay nothing into the road toll because they buy no gasoline. New Hampshire partially addresses this with an annual registration surcharge of $100 for fully electric vehicles and $50 for plug-in hybrids, added to standard registration costs.6Alternative Fuels Data Center. Electric Vehicle (EV) Fee
For comparison, a driver logging 12,000 miles per year in a car averaging 30 miles per gallon pays about $88.80 in state road toll annually. The $100 EV surcharge is roughly comparable, though the gap widens for drivers of less efficient vehicles who pay more per mile in toll.
Refunds for Off-Highway Fuel Use
If you buy fuel in New Hampshire and burn it for something other than driving on public roads, you can claim back the road toll you paid. Typical uses include farm equipment, generators, snowmobiles, off-highway recreational vehicles, and boats.7New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 260:47 – Refunds The minimum refund is $10, with an exception for organized OHRV and snowmobile clubs that can pool member claims.
The form depends on the use. RT-122G covers gasoline for general off-highway purposes, RT-122D covers diesel, RT-123 covers recreational vehicles, snowmobiles, and boats, and RT-126 covers farm operations. Forms are available through the Road Toll Bureau and can be submitted electronically through the state’s NHSP-RTR portal.8NH Division of Administration. Motor Fuels Refunds
Applications are due annually by April 15 following the calendar year of purchase. If your refund reaches at least $750 by the end of any quarter, you can file early, no later than the close of the following quarter.9Cornell Law Institute. NH Admin Code Saf-C 310.01 – Refunds – General Missing the deadline means automatic denial. You also need invoices showing the seller, date, gallons, fuel type, and price, plus a description of how the fuel was used. Vague claims without supporting detail are where refund applications most often get rejected.