Diesel: here’s where the money for the new excise duty cut is coming from
Decree-Law 139 has come into force, confirming a 17-cent reduction in excise duty and VAT on diesel. Ministries have been asked to make spending cuts of 95.6 million, and provisions of 136.7 million have been set aside.
Key points
Continuation of the excise duty cut on diesel. An increase in the allocation of 42.1 million for the road haulage tax credit, with the scheme extended to include August. A cost-cutting measure for ministerial expenditure totalling 232.3 million for 2026, implemented in two ways through a detailed reduction in commitment and cash appropriations relating to missions and programmes (95.6 million) and a reduction in appropriations from the special capital account fund (136.7 million). The effects of the confirmed 17-cent cut (14 cents in excise duty and 3 cents in VAT) on the price of diesel, as set out in Decree-Law 139/2026, published in the ‘Gazzetta Ufficiale’ on the evening of 5 August, come into effect today.
How the new discount works
The excise duty cut provided for in the Decree-Law will remain in force until 24 August. An interministerial decree, however, will ensure that the scheme also covers Tuesday 25 August, thanks to the ‘floating excise duty’ mechanism. In this way, the scheme devised by the Government aims to prevent a further surge in prices during the middle of the month, when a peak in holiday travel by motorists is expected.
Cost savings
The core of the measure is the spending review. The annex to the decree identifies the nine ministries required to make sacrifices, setting out in detail the objectives and spending programmes from which the savings are to be achieved. Although the Decree-Law does introduce a degree of flexibility – not in the amounts, but in the areas where action is to be taken –: the cuts, in fact, ‘may be reallocated in terms of budgetary responsibility and cash flow, even between different programmes within the relevant expenditure estimates, upon the proposal of the competent ministers, by decree’ of the Ministry of the Economy.
The contribution requested from the ministries
The Ministry of the Economy is set to make the largest contribution, at 60 million euros. Next comes the Ministry of the Interior with €8.07 million: the main savings come from a cut of €3.16 million to the budget for public order and security, and €3.47 million to that for immigration, reception and the protection of rights. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport is expected to make savings of 7 million, of which around 5.7 million are attributed to the budget line on the right to mobility and the development of transport systems.
The Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security will also be required to cut expenditure by 7 million in 2026: almost 94 per cent (6.55 million) of this will have to come from cuts to the programme dedicated to promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy and energy market regulation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the other hand, will be required to cut 5 million euros: the programmes most affected are development cooperation (2.3 million) and support for the internationalisation of businesses and the promotion of ‘Made in Italy’ and the national economy (1.88 million).
