Massachusetts Owes Mass Pike Drivers Money, and Only 230 People Collected Last Year
A state law entitles every driver who buys gas in Massachusetts and pays tolls on the Turnpike to a refund on the 24-cent-per-gallon gas tax, but the application process is so deliberately complicated that a former Mass Pike board member who is also an accountant called it impossible to finish.
You’re Being Taxed Twice, and the State Knows It
The Massachusetts gas tax exists to pay for road maintenance. So do tolls on the Mass Pike. If you pay both, you are funding the same roads through two separate charges.
Massachusetts state law says that’s not allowed. Under the Massachusetts Turnpike Fuels Excise Refund Program, any driver who buys gas in the state and uses the Pike can claim a refund on the 24-cent-per-gallon excise tax for every gallon burned on the Turnpike.
For someone who drives about 30 miles a day on the Pike, Monday through Friday, that adds up to roughly $100 per year.
Millions of drivers use the Mass Pike every year. In 2025, exactly 230 people successfully got their money back.
The Form Is Called GT-9T-B, and It’s Designed to Discourage You
To claim the refund, you have to download Form GT-9T-B from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue website. You cannot file it online. It is paper only.
You need to provide original gas receipts proving you purchased fuel in Massachusetts. You need E-ZPass receipts documenting every toll you paid on the Pike. Then you fill out a “tax refund computation” that involves addition, multiplication, and division across multiple sections.
Mary Connaughton, Director of Government Transparency at the Pioneer Institute in Boston, reviewed the form. She is also a trained accountant and a former Mass Pike board member.
“It’s a bureaucratic nightmare,” Connaughton told CBS Boston. “I don’t know a single person who has gone through this process, because it is so onerous.”
State Representative David Linsky, a Democrat from Natick, commutes on the Pike to Boston every day. He has never once filed for the refund. “Because it’s not worth it, quite frankly,” he said.
Even If You Survive the Paperwork, There’s a Tax on the Tax
There’s another layer most people never see coming. If you successfully claim the gas tax refund, Massachusetts then charges you a separate 6.25 percent use tax on the fuel you used on the Turnpike.
That use tax eats directly into the refund.
And if gas prices hit $4.08 per gallon or higher, the use tax completely cancels out the refund. At that price point, the state gives you nothing. The refund program still technically exists, but mathematically, it zeroes out.
The Department of Revenue confirmed this structure on its website: “There is no refund if the price of the gasoline or the special fuel is greater than $4.08 per gallon.”
Claims are also filed on a calendar half-year basis and must be submitted within two years of the fuel purchase date. Estimates are not accepted. Only exact documentation qualifies.
A State Lawmaker Tried to Fix This. It Went Nowhere.
Linsky filed a bill years ago to simplify the refund process. The legislature did not act on it.
He told CBS Boston he plans to try again. “I think in the next legislative session I can do this,” Linsky said. “I also think the DOR could probably figure out a few administrative tweaks and be able to do it without legislation.”
The Department of Revenue declined an interview request from CBS Boston. In a statement, the agency said, “This program was put in place by the legislature and DOR would like to see all eligible taxpayers benefit.”
Connaughton sees it differently.
“This is just a scheme to keep money in the state’s pockets and keep it out of toll payers’ pockets,” she said.
It’s not the only time Massachusetts has quietly structured costs to avoid public backlash. Governor Healey’s administration delayed a green heating tax until after the 2026 election, a timeline critics say was designed to shield the policy from voter scrutiny.
The tolls on the Mass Pike, the tunnels, and the Tobin Bridge brought in more than $412 million in revenue last year. The gas tax refund program returned a fraction of a fraction of that to 230 drivers who figured out how to beat the paperwork.
The gas tax refund is one of many Massachusetts programs where the gap between what taxpayers are owed and what they actually receive has started drawing scrutiny, including a viral investigation into a dramatic spike in daycare licensing that independent journalists say points to a much larger pattern of fraud.
