The price of petrol is at record levels and there isn't a day that we don't see price increases. This morning the national average price stood at 1,63 euros per litre. From many quarters an accusing finger is raised towards the oil companies but also against the weight of the tax burden on fuels. But the Government - called into question in the Finance Committee of the Chamber - through the undersecretary for the economy Bruno Cesario defends itself from those who point to the continuous increases in excise duties which are combined with the multiplier effect of VAT. "The tax component relating to VAT and excise duty, to which is added the tax on petrol where established - points out the undersecretary, responding to the committee - is only one of the elements that contribute to the formation of the final price of energy products, together with the their industrial cost, which is calculated independently by the oil companies, given that the previous system of administered prices has been superseded”.
Therefore, it is the attitude of the oil companies that is called into question. And it is no coincidence that the oil companies were summoned to the Ministry of Development on Wednesday precisely to better clarify the price list adjustment mechanisms. Undersecretary Cesario reiterates that in a system that has long since overcome the regime of administered prices, “tax leverage is not a sure instrument for determining the reduction in the sale price of fuels. In fact - he explains - a decrease in excise duty does not involve an automatic reduction in the price, just as an increase in excise duty does not involve an increase in the final sale price of the same value”.
Having said this, the government representative recalls that if on the one hand "the regions with ordinary statute have the right to institute a regional tax on petrol consumption in their territory within a maximum of 0,0258 euro/litre", on the other hand it is true that not all of them did. "Campania, Liguria, Molise, Calabria, Puglia, Abruzzo and Marche have made use of this option - Cesario concludes -".
