The discount on diesel remains in force until August 26th. The Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti, in concert with the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, signed the ministerial decree which activates the mechanism of the so-called mobile excise duties, using the extra VAT revenue generated by the increase in fuel prices.
What changes with the extension and mobile excise duties
The measure allows the tax reduction which would otherwise have ended at midnight on Monday 24 August to be maintained for another two days, 25 and 26 August. The extension is therefore one day longer than initially indicated.
The overall benefit for diesel remains around 17 cents per litre. More precisely, the measure applied so far consists of a 14 cent reduction in excise duty, to which is added the effect of VAT, for approximately another 3 cents on the final price. The decree-law of 5 August had in fact temporarily set the excise duty on diesel fuel at 532.90 euros per thousand litres, from 7 to 24 August.
How mobile excise duties work
In the presence of an increase in the international price of oil, the State collects more VAT because the tax is applied on a higher price. Part of this increased revenue can be used to temporarily lower excise duties, preventing the entire increase from being passed on to the price paid by motorists.
It is the same system already used by the government in recent months. In the interministerial decree of 5 June, for example, Mef and Mase had financed the reduction in rates with 149.4 million euros of increased VAT revenue collected in the month of May.
The extension just signed instead completes the intervention decided with the decree law of 5 August last, with a cost for the reduction of the excise duty alone estimated at 190.2 million euros in 2026.
Diesel already at 2.13 euros per litre: what changes after 26 August
The intervention comes as prices continue to rise, right on the weekend of the counter-exodus. According to the latest data from the Fuel Price Observatory of the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy, on Sunday 23 August self-service diesel on the national road network reached an average of 2.130 euros per litre, while petrol reached 2.010 euros.
The situation is even worse on the motorway: self-service diesel has risen to 2.203 euros per litre, compared to 2.087 euros for petrol. And after August 26th? For the following days, a new intervention will be needed if the government wants to keep the discount unchanged.