Faced with the rise of the petrol and diesel prices at the pump the clash on the Excise, especially for the cost they have on the final product. Not to mention the latest statements by the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso according to which "without excise duties our petrol would cost less than in the rest of Europe": unfortunately the industrial price does not count but the price at the pump which becomes very heavy for the load of the consumption tax. But what are they? AND how much do they weigh the excise duties on petrol and diesel?
The history of excise duties
The excise duties on fuels in Italy have been introduced in 1935 to finance emergencies or wars. The first of these taxes was used precisely to finance the war in Ethiopia for 1,90 lire (about 0,00981 euros). Over the years they are 19 the excise duties introduced: 14 lire for the Suez crisis in 1956; 10 lire for the Vajont tragedy in 1963; 10 lire to deal with the flood in Florence in 1966 and another 10 lire for the earthquake in Belice in 1968. Then 99 lire were added for the earthquake in Friuli in 1976; 75 lire for the earthquake in Irpinia in 1980; 205 lire for the mission in Lebanon in 1982 and 22 lire for the mission in Bosnia in 1996. To which are added the increases for the reconstruction of L'Aquila, for the earthquake in Emilia and the manager's bonus in 2014. Currently we do not pay all these excise duties: some were abolished in 1993. And it is good to remember that they have been merged since 1995 and they no longer go to finance a specific activity, but enrich the state coffers overall.
What are the excise duties on petrol and diesel?
The excise duties are paid by the producers, but concretely they are fully paid in the final prices, therefore, they are paid by the consumers. But how much do they think excise duties on petrol and diesel? 30% and 34%, respectively. The price at the pump is in fact composed of three elements: cost of the raw material, excise duties and VAT which in our country is 22%. These are very important numbers, which make taxation on fuel in Italy among the heaviest, if not the heaviest, in the Old Continent. A report by the Automobile Manufacturers Association, in 2022, indicates Italy as the European country with the highest excise duties on diesel, while it is the second for excise duties applied to the price of petrol (the first is Holland).
Excise duties: why doesn't the government cut them?
Cut excise duties it would cause fuel prices to fall, but they are worth gold to the state. Compared with other types of taxes guarantee the state to obtain a immediate revenue. According to what was communicated by the General State Accounting Office, in the first half of 2023 there is an "increase in the revenue from excise duties on energy products, their derivatives and similar products (mineral oils) (+1,856 billion euro, +20,3%) which it compares with a level of revenue in 2022 which incorporated the effects of the reduction of the excise tax rates ordered to contain energy costs".
The latest measure to control tariffs was that of the Draghi government: from March to November 2022, a cut in excise duty of 25 euro cents per liter or 30,5 euro cents considering VAT (on fuels VAT is calculated on the industrial price plus excise duties).
How much would petrol cost without excise duty?
According to the latest bulletin released by the European Commission, dating back to August 10, Italy was actually below the countries mentioned by Urso. Without taxes, in Italy petrol would cost 0,852 euros per liter, against a European average of 0,869 euros. In Germany it would be 0,877, in France 0,900 and in Spain 0,915 euros per litre. And it is actually true that - not counting excise duties - petrol in Italy would cost less than in other countries, and even less than the EU average.
But the music changes if taxes are also included. Again according to Eurostat monitoring, with excise duties the average price in Italy was 1,929 euros per liter. Above France (1,910 euros), Germany (1,904) euros and Spain (1,680 euros per litre). Not only was Italy clearly above the European average (1,801 euros per litre), but it was the third country with the highest prices after Denmark and the Netherlands.
And in the end it is the price at the petrol pump that counts and not the one "purified" from excise duties. Maybe the minister pretends to forget about it.
