Georgia Code
Article 1 - Motor Fuel Tax
§ 48-9-3. Levy of Excise Tax; Rate; Taxation of Motor Fuels Not Commonly Sold or Measured by Gallon; Rate; Prohibition of Tax on Motor Fuel by Political Subdivisions; Exception; Exempted Sales

(1.1) (A) Beginning on July 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, the amount of this excise tax per gallon on distributors shall be automatically adjusted on an annual basis in accordance with this paragraph.
(B) Using 2014 as a base year, the department shall determine the average miles per gallon of all new vehicles registered in this state pursuant to Code Section 48-5C-1 using the average of combined miles per gallon published in the United States Department of Energy Fuel Economy Guide. Beginning on July 1, 2016, and each year thereafter, the department shall calculate the average miles per gallon of all new vehicles registered in this state in the previous year. The excise tax rate shall be multiplied by the percentage increase or decrease in fuel efficiency from the previous year, and the resulting increase or decrease shall be added to the excise tax rate to determine the preliminary excise tax rate.
(C) Once the preliminary excise tax rate is established, it shall be multiplied by the annual percentage of increase or decrease in the Consumer Price Index. The resulting calculation shall be added to the preliminary excise tax rate, and the result of such calculation shall be the new excise tax rate for motor fuels for the next calendar year. The Consumer Price Index shall no longer be used after July 1, 2025.
(II) Any such purchaser granted an exemption under subdivision (I) of this division who falsely claims the exemption or fails to rescind the purchaser’s exemption certificate to the distributor in writing when he or she is no longer eligible for the exemption shall be deemed a distributor for purposes of taxation and is subject to all provisions of this article relating to distributors. This division in no way shall restrict the option of the purchaser to become licensed as a distributor. If the distributor sells special fuel to a purchaser who has a storage receptacle which has a connection to a withdrawal outlet that may be used for highway use, as defined in paragraph (8) of Code Section 48-9-2, and the purchaser is not a valid licensed distributor and has not executed a valid signed exemption certificate, the taxes imposed by this article are due from the distributor and not the purchaser on all sales of that type of fuel to that purchaser;
History. Code 1933, § 92-1403, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 186, § 1; Code 1933, § 91A-5003, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 309, § 2; Ga. L. 1979, p. 5, § 102; Ga. L. 1979, p. 1274, §§ 1, 3; Ga. L. 1980, p. 10, § 30; Ga. L. 1985, p. 1644, § 1; Ga. L. 1986, p. 10, § 48; Ga. L. 1993, p. 811, § 2; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1502, § 4; Ga. L. 1994, p. 569, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 10, § 48; Ga. L. 1995, p. 359, § 2; Ga. L. 2004, p. 425, § 2; Ga. L. 2005, p. 60, § 48/HB 95; Ga. L. 2005, p. 505, § 1/HB 384; Ga. L. 2006, p. 523, § 1/HB 1244; Ga. L. 2008, p. 889, § 2/HB 1035; Ga. L. 2010, p. 813, § 2/HB 1393; Ga. L. 2012, p. 1348, § 1/HB 743; Ga. L. 2013, p. 786, § 1/HB 211; Ga. L. 2013, p. 869, § 1/HB 371; Ga. L. 2015, p. 236, § 5-13/HB 170; Ga. L. 2018, p. 152, § 3/HB 150; Ga. L. 2020, p. 371, § 8/HB 1098; Ga. L. 2020, p. 685, § 6/HB 511; Ga. L. 2022, p. 20, § 1/HB 304.
The 2020 amendments.
The first 2020 amendment, effective July 29, 2020, substituted “July 1, 2025” for “July 1, 2022” at the end of the last sentence of subparagraph (a)(1.1)(C). The second 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, made identical changes.
The 2022 amendment, effective March 18, 2022, deleted “or” from the end of paragraph (b)(10), substituted “; or” for a period at the end of paragraph (b)(11), and added (b)(12).
Code Commission notes.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1985, “is exempt” was substituted for “are exempt” in subsection (c).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1986, a hyphen was inserted in “prima facie” in the second sentence of paragraph (a)(2) and “ultimate” was substituted for “utlimate” in the second sentence of division (b)(7)(B)(i).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2022, “March 18, 2022” was substituted for “the effective date of this paragraph” in paragraph (b)(12).
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 2015, p. 236, § 9-1(b)/HB 170, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “Tax, penalty, and interest liabilities and refund eligibility for prior taxable years shall not be affected by the passage of this Act and shall continue to be governed by the provisions of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated as it existed immediately prior to the effective date of this Act.” This Act became effective July 1, 2015.
Ga. L. 2015, p. 236, § 8-1/HB 170, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Transportation Funding Act of 2015.’ ”
Ga. L. 2015, p. 236, § 8-2/HB 170, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “It is the intention of the General Assembly, subject to appropriations and other constitutional obligations of this state, that year to year revenue increases be prioritized to fund education, transportation, and health care in this state.”
Law reviews.
For article, “Revenue and Taxation: Amend Titles 48, 2, 28, 33, 36, 46, and 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating Respectively to Revenue and Taxation, Agriculture, the General Assembly, Insurance, Local Government, Public Utilities, and State Government,” see 28 Georgia St. U.L. Rev. 217 (2011).
For article on the 2015 amendment of this Code section, see 32 Georgia St. U.L. Rev. 261 (2015).