I believe the scandinavian countries still have us beat

Yup, joyous 25% VAT here in Sweden (for most goods - some are lower though). I think Norway and Finland are in this region as well... Companies deduct VAT they've paid from the VAT generated by sales.

And VAT is of course calculated after adding things like customs, shipping etc.
IIRC about 75-80% of our gas price is various taxes... Gas is currently 11.56 SEK/liter standard unleaded (which is 95 octane [RON] - roughly 91 octane CLC/PON)
11.56 SEK is roughly US$1.53 which makes the [US] gallon US$5.80...

/Michael