Excise duty cut for 20 days (minus 25 cents per litre), tax credits and price controls: the government’s plan against price increases
It was published in the Official Journal the fuel decree-law approved by the Council of Ministers on Wednesday evening. The provision, immediately signed by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, It came into effect from midnightmaking all the measures against high petrol and diesel prices operational starting today. The package is worth a total of 527.4 million euros and was created to counter the surge in prices linked to the international crisis and the war in Iran. The main risk is in fact that the high cost of fuel translates into a general increase in prices. And so the government’s strategy is to act on three fronts: immediate intervention on pump prices; targeted support for the most exposed companies; tight control against speculation. With emergency measures (and temporary for now) the aim is to gain time. The possible extension of the package and the real impact on the Italian economy will depend on how long the international crisis lasts.
Fuel excise duty cut: 25 cent discount for 20 days
The heart of the decree is precisely the temporary cut, for 20 days, of excise duties on fuel. Specifically: -25 cents per liter on petrol and diesel and -12 cents on LPGwith immediate effect also on VAT, which is automatically reduced. According to the government, the cut should bring pump prices below the psychological threshold of 1.90 euros per litreat least in the short term. A large part of the resources have been allocated to this (417.4 million) and it is a “horizontal” measure, i.e. it involves all Italian consumers. It stays though a time measurement: the executive does not rule out an extension if the energy crisis were to prolong.
Tax credit for hauliers and fisheries: support for businesses and supply chains
Alongside the cut in excise duties, the decree introduces targeted measures for the sectors most affected by high fuel prices. For the hauliers a tax credit on diesel is envisaged, with a percentage to be defined with a subsequent provision (in the drafts it is estimated at up to 28%). Support for hauliers is an indirect way to support families, preventing the increase in transport costs from passing on to consumer prices. Then there is support for exposed sector, that of fishing: 20% tax credit, valid for the March-May 2026 quarter.
Anti-speculation crackdown and fines for oil companies: strengthened controls
Then in the decree there is the strengthening of controls along the entire fuel supply chainwith a clear objective: to avoid speculation. For the next few months, oil companies will have to communicate prices to the Ministry of Business on a daily basis and in case of failure to send them, a fine equal to 0.1% of turnover will be triggered. A special monitoring regime will then be active with Mister Prezzi, the Financial Police and Antitrust. And in the presence of anomalies, sanctioning proceedings may be initiated and in the most serious cases it will lead to reporting to the judiciary for speculative maneuvers. The objective is to link pump prices more closely to the real trend of crude oil, preventing unjustified increases and ensuring that the cut in excise duties translates into a concrete benefit for consumers.
