Missouri's gas tax refund isn't a rumor or a loophole — it's a real state program with real numbers behind it. Here's what the Missouri Department of Revenue has actually reported about who's claiming it, how much they're getting back, and why the refund exists at all.
The 2025 numbers
Missouri received a record 17,119 refund claims in 2025 and paid out $2,057,073.05 to more than 12,000 people. The average refund was $162.74, according to figures from the Missouri Department of Revenue as reported by ABC17 and KRCG.
$162.74 is an average, not a guarantee. Your own refund depends entirely on how many eligible gallons you can document with receipts. Drivers who track fuel purchases across multiple vehicles all year tend to land well above that average; drivers who only remember to save a handful of receipts land well below it. The largest single 2025 refund was about $278,000, which Vincent said was probably a business.
Claims and refunds, year by year
Claims received: 15,562 in 2022, 10,820 in 2023, 13,527 in 2024 and 17,119 in 2025. After a dip in 2023, filing has grown two years running.
Average refund: under $28 in 2022 (reported by KCTV5), $132.42 in 2024 and $162.74 in 2025. Each phase of the fuel tax increase raised the refund rate, which is the likely reason the average has climbed.
Since the first refunds went out in 2022, Missouri has returned roughly $4.8 million to drivers in total.
How many claims were denied
The Department of Revenue identified 4,149 fraudulent claims in 2025 and denied $2,507,383.25 of them (KRCG's figure; ABC17 rounds it to about $3 million), more than it actually refunded. Reports of the 2024 total put denied claims near $3.3 million.
That is why documentation matters: the claim form asks for the seller and gallons from each receipt, so keeping dated, readable receipts is what lets a legitimate claim stand up to review.
What about 2026?
The 2026 filing window closed September 30, and the Department of Revenue has not published claim counts or payout totals for it yet. Director Vincent has said she expects the program to pass $2 million again. We will update this page when official figures come out.
Why the refund exists
Missouri's gas tax rose from 17¢ to 29.5¢ per gallon over five years under Senate Bill 262, with the final increase completed in July 2025. The refund program exists specifically so drivers can recover the state's share of that increase on eligible fuel purchases — it's not a discount or a rebate program unrelated to the tax itself, it's a direct refund of the legislated increase.
That's also why the refund is filed year by year rather than being an ongoing discount at the pump: each claim year covers a 12-month purchase period, and the refund has to be requested and documented like any other tax claim.
The current rate and deadline
Rates and deadlines shift by a year at a time, so rather than restate a number here that goes stale, see the current Missouri gas tax refund rate and deadline for whatever claim year is active right now.
A note on third-party apps
In the same report, Director Vincent cautioned Missourians against third-party apps that claim to “facilitate” refunds on their behalf. That's a fair warning, and it's worth being direct about where FuelBack MO stands: it doesn't file your claim for you, and it never touches the DOR on your behalf.
FuelBack MO reads your receipt photos, organizes them by vehicle and claim year, and prepares a completed Form 4923-H packet and a draft submission email — but you're always the one who reviews it and hits send. It's a flat fee, not a percentage of your refund, and no part of the process asks you to hand off control of your own filing.