If you want to find out which state is cheaper, take the fuel tax out of the price. Buying in the higher tax states may or may not be the best way to go. It depends on where you run. In some instances, not all, I have found that buying in the cheaper pump price states my total fuel costs are less than if I purchased in the more expensive states. This can be true even if you have to pay some fuel taxes at the end of the quarter. You still may pay less money out than if you purchased in the higher tax states and had a credit or basically broke even. In these instances I pay more in fuel tax at the end of the quarter, but less money out over all. As I stated, it depends on where you run. If you are running the same route or states most of the time, it is easy to calculate. I have a friend who primarily runs Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York and New Jersey. He buys most of his fuel in Pennsylvania. His reasoning that he nearly always shows a credit on his fuel taxes. Some people still buy enough fuel in each state that they run to offset any fuel taxes. That is no longer necessary with IFTA since if you over pay in one state you can get credit for those states in which you may not have made any fuel purchases. If you run the same states all or most of the time, and don't want to do all of the calculations, you could just alternate fuel purchases in the states where you run.
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