Governor Mike Braun announced a 30-day pause on Indiana’s 7% gasoline use tax, also known as the sales tax, and said residents should contact the state if those savings are not being passed along.

Appearing on Fort Wayne’s Morning News with Kayla Blakeslee, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said the tax suspension applies only to that portion of the total price of gasoline.

“What the governor did, he suspended Indiana’s 7% gasoline use tax,” Rokita said. “But there are other taxes too, like the state excise tax … and the federal tax.”

Rokita explained that the way gasoline is purchased and taxed can delay when consumers see price changes. Unlike traditional retail, where sales tax is collected at the point of purchase, he said gas stations often pay that tax upfront when buying fuel from distributors.

“What happens there is the gas stations pay the distributor at the time they buy the big truckload of fuel,” Rokita said. “They pay the 7% into the distributor, then the distributor pays the state.”

Because of that system, Rokita said some stations may still be selling fuel purchased before the tax pause took effect.

“Some of our smaller gas stations may have purchased 30 days or so worth of fuel at a time, and they’ve already paid the 7% tax,” he said.

According to Rokita, statewide data shows prices are trending downward. He said his office is tracking approximately 3,200 gas stations and has observed an average decrease of about 20 cents per gallon since the tax pause began.

“What we’ve discovered is that on average … the average has gone down since last week by 20 cents,” Rokita said. “So it’s on track.”

However, he said a small number of stations have not followed that trend.

“We have identified … 19 outlying gas stations that have not gone down about 20 cents,” Rokita said. “We’ll see if they have reasons.”

Rokita emphasized that price differences alone do not indicate wrongdoing, noting that fuel pricing is influenced by multiple factors.

“Just because the gas is higher … doesn’t necessarily mean someone’s gouging,” he said.

The Attorney General’s Office is accepting consumer complaints through its website and is also using internal technology to monitor pricing patterns.

“We are taking consumer complaints,” Rokita said. “You go to indianaconsumer.com if you think that price gouging has occurred.”

He added that the office has developed an internal application to track pricing data across the state and identify anomalies.

“That’s how I know we have 3,200 gas stations,” Rokita said. “That’s how I know the average price has gone down … and that’s how I can pinpoint these 19 outlying gas stations.”

If violations are found, Rokita said enforcement would likely be handled as a civil matter under Indiana’s consumer protection laws.

“It’s going to be a deceptive consumer sales act violation,” he said. “It’s a civil matter … restitution and fines and things like that.”

Rokita also noted that his office does not typically pursue criminal charges in these cases, which would fall under the jurisdiction of local prosecutors.

For now, officials say monitoring will continue as the tax pause remains in effect, with consumers encouraged to report concerns while broader pricing trends are evaluated.