Italy lowers fuel taxes to help tackle surging prices

Rome, Italy | Xinhua | Italy’s government on Monday adopted a decree that eliminates excise taxes on some forms of natural gas and methane to help tackle surging energy prices due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

According to a statement from the office of Prime Minister Mario Draghi, excise taxes on gasoline, diesel fuel, liquified petroleum gas, and all forms of natural gas will be lowered starting Tuesday, until at least July 8.

For natural gas used for transport, excise taxes will be removed while value-added tax will be five percent.

Excise taxes on gasoline will be reduced to 478.40 euros (502.50 U.S. dollars) per 1,000 liters, whereas previously it was taxed at 564.00 euros per 1,000 liters. Meanwhile, taxes on liquified petroleum gas (LPG) will be reduced from 227.77 euros per 1,000 kilograms to 182.61 euros per 1,000 kilograms.

Fuel prices in Italy have climbed dramatically since late February when the Russia-Ukraine conflict began. At that time, Russia was Italy’s single largest supplier of natural gas and a leading supplier of petroleum to the country. However, in recent weeks Italy has signed new gas supply deals with multiple other countries, including Algeria, Egypt, the Republic of Congo, and Angola.

On April 21, Italian Minister for Economic Transition Roberto Cingolani vowed that Italy would be “almost” independent of Russian gas imports by the second half of next year.

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Xinhua