With the price of petrol and diesel which, as a consequence of the war in Ukraine, has now decisively broken through the “wall” of 2 euros per liter , consumer protest over “excise duties”, an important component of the price, is becoming stronger and stronger. of fuels and of which many probably ignore the characteristics.
So let’s see what excise duties are, starting with the meaning of the word which, according to dictionaries, is nothing more than that of tax, imposed.
Excise duties are therefore a tax that the state places on the manufacture or sale of consumer products. Example of indirect tax, which unlike VAT, is placed on a limited number of product categories and applied not as a percentage, but according to quantities decided by the Institution.
The aversion that accompanies this tribute probably derives from the fact that we pay them on goods that we are all forced to buy and then for the periodic proposals for cutting or eliminating which various political forces have spoken about over the years but without ever following up.
The legislator has often resorted to them to deal with natural disasters and other emergency situations, in order to quickly find important funds. And still today they are a fundamental tool for the state economy, a change in their weight causes, in fact, an immediate jump in revenues.
Excise duties offer the State two fundamental advantages over other taxes: they guarantee immediate, safe and constant revenue for the tax authorities: the quantity of fuels, electricity and tobacco consumed nationally and easily calculable in general does not change much even with the increase of this tax.
Furthermore, the excise duty is triggered when the manufactured products are introduced into the consumer circuit ; the amount is therefore paid at the time of purchase, when we do gasoline, or at the latest shortly after, as in the case of electricity and gas bills.
Another advantage is that it takes very little to adjust the rates upwards and therefore meet budgetary needs quickly and effectively. This is the reason why so many fiscal maneuvers have considered excise duties, and often have invented new ones.
Although the most famous excise duties are those that affect fuels, we also pay them for other products.
The excise duties currently in force apply only to certain goods, such as: mineral oils and their derivatives (petrol, diesel, LPG, methane gas) alcoholic beverages (liqueurs, grappa, brandy) matches tobacco products (cigarettes) electricity lubricating oils
But those more sadly famous are the excise duties on petrol, diesel and LPG. And there are many, as many as 18 excise duties on fuels that weigh on the pockets of Italian motorists. Below is the complete list of those placed on fuels in Italy, with the year and reason for introduction:
1) financing of the Suez crisis (1956) – 0.00723 euros;
2) post-disaster reconstruction of the Vajont (1963) – 0.00516 euros;
3) post-flood reconstruction of Florence (1966) – 0.00516 euros;
4) post-earthquake reconstruction of Belice (1968) – 0.00516 euros;
5) post-earthquake reconstruction in Friuli (1976) – 0.00511 euros;
6) post-earthquake reconstruction of Irpinia (1980) – 0.0387 euros;
7) UN mission funding in Lebanon (1982 – 1983) – € 0.106;
8) UN mission funding in Bosnia (1996) – 0.0114 euros;
9) renewal of the autoferrotranvieri contract (2004) – 0.020 euros;
10) purchase of ecological buses (2005) – 0.005 euros;
11) post-earthquake reconstruction of L’Aquila (2009) – 0.0051 euros;
12) funding for culture (2011) – 0.0071;
13) Libyan migration crisis financing (2011) – 0.040 euros;
14) reconstruction due to the flood that hit Tuscany and Liguria (2011) – 0.0089 euros;
15) financing of the “Salva Italia” decree (2011) – 0.082 euros;
16) financing for post-earthquake reconstruction in Emilia (2012) – 0.024 euros;
17) financing of the “Manager bonus” (2014) – 0.005 euros;
18) financing of the “Decreto fare” (2014) – 0.0024
As can be seen The use of this instrument has increased over the years: in forty years – between 1956 and 1996 – eight excise duties and another ten in just ten years, between 2004 and 2014. There are therefore 18 excise duties on fuels which in 1995have been incorporated into a single undifferentiated tax that finances the state budget as a whole ( almost 24 billion euros in 2021 ), without any reference to the original reasons. Which, in any case, are still the basis of the tax and make it up. The total value of this indirect tax has always risen, reaching an all-time high in 2014, when 0.73 euros of excise duty was paid for each liter of fuel. Today it should weigh on the price at the pump for a total of 728 cents to which, however, VAT must be added to therefore reach over 1 euro (1.049) in taxation on each liter of gasoline.
