California drivers experienced sticker shock at the gas pump on Nov. 1. The state’s gasoline tax rose by 12 cents per gallon that day, bringing the total to 39.8 cents. Along with the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents, Californians now pay 58.2 cents in excise taxes per gallon. Like all other states with sales taxes, California “taxes the tax” by applying the combined local and state sales tax, which ranges from 7.25 to 9.75 percent, on top of the gasoline tax.

The average price of regular unleaded gas is now $3.02 per gallon, meaning that federal and state taxes represent about 20 percent of the retail price. That’s considerably more than gas-station owners’ 2-cents-per-gallon gross profit.

It only gets worse: on July 1, 2019, the state tax will go up another 7.5 cents, bringing the combined state and federal excise tax to 65.7 cents per gallon. more here