Fuel Tax Holiday on Diesel: Which States Cut It and IFTA Rules

What happened

A fuel tax holiday on diesel is now real in some states. A fuel tax holiday means the state stops charging its own fuel tax for a while. Land Line, the magazine of the truckers' association OOIDA, listed them on Oct. 9, 2026.

Here is where things stand:

• Georgia: the holiday covers diesel and gas. It runs through Nov. 5.
• North Carolina: lawmakers passed a bill called HB3. It would stop the 41-cent-per-gallon tax on gas and diesel through Nov. 30. It is on the governor's desk, and he is expected to sign it.
• Ohio: the governor signed a bill that gives truckers and drivers some relief.
• Indiana: the gas tax holiday was extended 30 days. But it does not cover diesel. Truckers still pay the full tax at the pump there.

Other states are only talking about it. Massachusetts has a plan to stop its 24-cent tax for two months. Michigan and Pennsylvania have bills too. Pennsylvania has the highest diesel tax in the country, at 74.1 cents per gallon. None of those three is law yet.

Texas is not on the list in the Land Line report.

What it means for owner-operators

Diesel is expensive right now. Land Line put the average at $5.99 a gallon in North Carolina and $6.53 in Michigan. A tax break of 41 cents a gallon is real money when you fill two tanks.

But there is a catch, and it is paperwork. IFTA (the International Fuel Tax Agreement) is the system that splits your fuel tax among the states where you drive. A holiday changes the tax rate. It does not cancel the report.

Land Line says it plainly: truckers must keep tracking miles driven and fuel bought in the holiday states. Those numbers still go on your quarterly IFTA return. The official rates for each state come out in IFTA's quarterly tax rate updates.

What to do next

• Keep every fuel receipt, even from a state with a holiday.
• Keep logging miles by state. Nothing changes there.
• Do not guess the rate. Use the official IFTA rate table for the quarter when you file.
• Do not count on Indiana for diesel. Its break is for gas only.
• Watch North Carolina. The break starts only when the governor signs.
• Not sure how to file? Our trucking permits filing guide explains IFTA step by step.