Samantha Marcus of NJ Advance Media takes a look at the 4.3 cent increase in New Jersey’s gas tax and some other tax changes taking effect today.
“The increase was met with anger from taxpayers still reeling from the 23-cent-per-gallon increase in 2016,” Marcus writes. “But tax collections have fallen short the past two years, precipitating the Murphy administration’s announcement last month that it was raising the tax again.”
The increase takes effect automatically because revenues fell $125 million short of the $2 billion target in the fiscal year that ended in June and $43 million short the year before.
The increase will put New Jersey’s gas tax among the 10 highest in the nation, it is still less than New York’s or Pennsylvania’s, she explains. New Jersey’s tax jumps to 41.4 cents per gallon, just below New York’s 45.76 cents. Pennsylvania has the highest gas tax in the nation at 58.7 cents per gallon.
Additionally, some new taxes enact this spring will take effect today: sales and hotel occupancy taxes on short-term rentals booked on such online marketplaces as Airbnb, and a 10-cent-per-milliliter tax on nicotine liquid used in e-cigarettes.
