You can claim a credit on your 2019 taxes if you save your gas and preventative car maintenance receipts.

The SC Department of Revenue said 2020 will be the 2nd year you can claim the motor fuel income tax credit.

The purpose of the tax credit is to offset the gas tax you pay for preventative maintenance.

You or your tax preparer can use the receipts to calculate your tax credit.

To qualify, you must be a SC resident with a car registered in the state and must have bought the gas or other services in the state.

Since gas pump receipts can become illegible over time, you may photocopy them.

The receipts should not be sent to SCDOR, but save them for your records.

The gas receipts should show the number of gallons purchased in South Carolina.

Maintenance receipts should show the car model, amount, and type of work performed in South Carolina.

The credit is claimed on the I-385, available at www.dor.sc.gov/forms and included in many online filing products.

During last tax season, the average resident got a credit of $24.37 per return, SCDOR officials said.

Currently, drivers pay $0.22 per gallon for the gas tax. That will go up in July 2020.

The money from the tax goes toward improving infrastructure in the state. More than $275 million has been collected as of October 2019, officials said.

South Carolinians should continue to save their receipts to claim the tax credit in 2021, as well. For more information, visit https://dor.sc.gov/resources-site/lawandpolicy/Advisory%20Opinions/RR17-6.pdf .