The cut in excise duties on diesel returns. With an inter-ministerial decree of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and of the Environment and Energy Security, discounts have been reintroduced from 28 October to 7 November.
The discount is 4 cents per litre, a third compared to last spring. The cost of the operation is 38.7 million euros, covered with the increased VAT revenue collected in September. It is the entry into force of the “mobile excise duty” mechanism, i.e. when the extra revenue from price increases is used to finance the discount.
This is a smaller discount compared to the past, but it comes at a time when the price of diesel has remained high for a long time (since 6 October when the last discount ended without any other interventions).
Discount on diesel thanks to mobile excise duties
The mobile excise duty mechanism comes into operation and, thanks to the greater VAT revenue collected in September, a discount on diesel returns. From 28 October to 7 November the cut in excise duties on diesel returns, bringing the rate to 632.90 euros per 1,000 litres.
The discount thus amounts to 4 euro cents per litre, a third of that guaranteed during the spring.
The price of fuel
The news of the excise duty cut comes almost as a surprise on the morning of Wednesday 28 October, after the publication in the Official Journal of the application of the mobile excise duty mechanism only took place on Tuesday 27 October.
In the morning, while there was a slight drop in average petrol prices, diesel remained stable. No one seemed to have yet implemented the 4 cent excise tax cut on diesel.
Based on data from Daily Relaythe average price of fuel in self-service mode along the national road network is equal to:
- 2.015 euros for petrol (-2 thousandths compared to yesterday);
- 2.261 euros for diesel (unchanged price);
- 0.779 euros for LPG (+1 thousandth);
- 2.022 euros per kg for methane (+13 thousandths).
On the motorway network, the average price is:
- 2,041 euros for petrol (unchanged);
- 2.304 euros for diesel (+2 thousandths);
- 0.901 euros for LPG (-1 thousandth);
- 1.939 euros per kg for methane (+4 thousandths).
The discount calendar
The current excise duty cut is four cents per litre, much lower than previous ones. The first, launched on 18 March 2026, was effective for 20 days and was equal to 0.25 euros per liter on petrol and diesel and 0.12 euros on LPG.
Between April and May the cut was extended with an initial reduction of 24.4 cents per litre, which then remained confirmed on diesel (0.20 cents) while on petrol it dropped to five cents.
Then again in May, the extension of the cut by two weeks, until June 6, but with a discount on diesel halved to 0.10 euros and the discount on petrol remaining at five cents. For June and July, a single discount on diesel fuel of 0.17 euros between excise duty and VAT has been introduced.
Which continued, between various reductions, until October 6th when the 6.1 cent discount also expired and the decree on mobile excise duties was announced. Until October 28, Italians no longer had any tax discounts on fuel.
The absence of immediate support in the form of discount renewal led to an exacerbation of the situation. The hauliers gathered against high diesel prices, starting the mobilization which resulted in a long strike from 16 to 22 October and continues with the general strike on 30 October.
