The Georgia Department of Revenue is giving motorists a present at the start of the new year, a drop in motor fuel taxes.

The state sales tax on gasoline will drop from 11 cents per gallon to 7.1 cents per gallon on Thursday.

Under Georgia law, the revenue department sets the sales tax for gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel and liquefied propane gas on Jan. 1 and July 1 each year. This year, Gov. Sonny Perdue issued an executive order in June freezing the sales tax at the January 2008 level.