Excise duty: that’s why our gasoline is so expensive

Petrol and diesel have broken through the psychological threshold of 2 euros per liter. The Codacons underlines how the cost of gasoline marks an average + 39.3% compared to the same period of 2021, while diesel oil even rises by + 51.3%. In more difficult to reach areas, such as the islands, the increases are even more significant than in the rest of Italy with peaks above 2.5 euros.

What causes the increase in petrol?

The increase in prices is the result of three factors: the increase in the price of oil, the effect of the exchange rate between the euro and the dollar and the combination of the excise duty on fuel and VAT. The first two elements are influenced by the ongoing war in Ukraine. The third is the only aspect on which courageous intervention by the government is hoped.

Codacons was among the first to ask for a timely intervention, asking that theVAT is suspended until the end of the energy emergency and taxes are also reduced by lowering VAT from 22 to 5% . And then there is the eternal question of excise duty, a decisive component for defining the final price of fuels. Politics (remember Salvini?) Has often spoken of cuts in these taxes without ever realizing them. But what are excise duties and how much do they weigh on the prices of petrol, diesel, LPG and methane gas? What do we really pay when we fill up our car?

What are excise duties?

We have been hearing about it every day for some time, well before the emergency following the war in Ukraine, but not everyone knows what excise duties are. They are indirect taxes created to finance states of necessity, born out of sudden emergencies, or to finance moments of crisis in the state quickly and effectively, but which have actually consolidated over time, adding to other additions from time to time. since the time of the Suez crisis (1956). In fact, it is excise duties that weigh so much on the exorbitant costs of gasoline.

And among the sad Italian records there is that of having the highest excise duty in Europe. If we exclude the Netherlands, where excise duties are equal to 0.79 euros per liter, our country has a second negative place, with 0.73 euros per liter of petrol. Following in the ranking of European countries with the highest taxes on petrol are Finland and Greece (0.70 euros per liter) and just outside the top five are France (0.68 euros per liter) and Germany (0.65 euros per liter). EUR).

Fuel excise duties: what and what they are and why we pay them

Excise duties are a tax that the state places on the manufacture or sale of certain consumer products such as cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, matches, electricity and lubricating oils. The most consistent are those on mineral oils and their derivatives, namely petrol, diesel, LPG and methane gas. Example of indirect tax, which unlike VAT, is applied not as a percentage, but according to quantities decided by the Institution. In fact, once the emergency is over, successive governments, from right to left, have always forgotten to remove the purpose tax.

Can excise duties be lowered?

Adjusting the excise duty down could reduce the impact of pump price increases, but it would also have an immediate effect on state finances. As for the overall taxation (excise duties plus VAT), in 2020, tax revenues deriving from petroleum products are estimated to be around 31.8 billion euros. The previous year, the revenue had even been 7.6 billion higher. It is impossible for the government to find alternatives to such significant and secure revenues over time.

Curious about all the excise duties? Here is the complete list of excise duties we pay every time we stock up:

financing of Suez crisis (1956) – 0.00723 euros;