High fuel prices: the race against time over tax credits
Following the measures included in the latest decree on excise duty cuts, the total funds allocated for tax credits have risen to 462 million. The deadline for using these credits to offset tax liabilities is the end of 2026 for all taxpayers
Key points
A total of 462 million euros is up for grabs. The race to use these funds will be a race against time, as the deadline for offsetting them falls at the end of the year. The tax credits, introduced to help some of the sectors most affected by high fuel prices following the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East, have seen their funding gradually increase, alongside an expansion of the pool of potential beneficiaries and the reference months. The focus is now entirely on the ability to finalise the procedures for applications once the regulatory framework has been established through the implementing decrees.
Road haulage
At the forefront – at least in terms of the scale of the funding – is the tax credit for the road haulage sector, with the first 300 million having just received the green light from the EU Commission, which deemed it to be in line with the Temporary Framework for State Aid linked to the crisis in the Middle East (METSAF). Meanwhile, the latest decree-law passed to cut diesel excise duties in the midst of the summer exodus of motorists (Decree-Law 133/2026) has made a further sum available for the scheme: 22 million, bringing the total ceiling to 322 million euros. And that’s not all, as the benefit has been extended to cover the additional costs incurred during the month of July.
A measure that follows in the footsteps of previous initiatives introduced by the Government but also by Parliament. Indeed, the conversion of the ‘Accise Ter’ decree has given the green light to extend the scheme beyond road haulage companies to include passenger transport operators and bus hire companies with drivers, provided their vehicles comply with Euro 5 and Euro 6 standards.
The first step towards implementing the scheme was laid down by an interministerial decree issued by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, in consultation with the Ministry of the Economy and the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security. This decree is dated 23 May – and therefore predates the extension of the scope of the scheme to include passenger transport by road – and was published in the *Gazzetta Ufficiale* on 21 July.
The key operational details of the applications are set out in a MIT directorate decree, but the opening of the application portal on a platform managed by the Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM), is expected to begin in September, with a window which, according to information provided by some trade associations and pending official announcements on the matter, could run from the 1st to the 15th. There will be no ‘click day’, and the tax credit may cover up to 70 per cent of the additional expenditure incurred from March to July (following Decree-Law 133) compared with the average price of diesel recorded by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security for February 2026.
