The diesel excise duty cut expires today: 17 cents per litre return from 25 August
Decree-law 139/2026 keeps the excise duty on automotive diesel at 532.90 euros per thousand litres until 24 August. Without a new measure, the discount lapses right during the return-from-holidays traffic.
The measure that has kept diesel prices under control in the second half of August has an expiry date written into the text, and it is today. Decree-law no. 139 of 5 August 2026, published in Official Gazette no. 180, sets the excise duty rate on diesel used as automotive fuel at 532.90 euros per thousand litres and limits its application to the period from 7 to 24 August 2026.
How much the discount is worth
According to the statement issued by the Council of Ministers on 4 August 2026, the overall benefit for motorists is about 17 cents per litre: 14 cents in excise duty and 3 cents in VAT, which is calculated on the excise duty and falls along with it. This is a well-known structure for these interventions: the manufacturing tax enters the value-added tax base, so every excise cut produces a second, automatic discount.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Excise duty, automotive diesel | 532.90 euros / 1,000 litres |
| Application period | 7 – 24 August 2026 |
| Excise discount | about 14 cents/litre |
| Related VAT discount | about 3 cents/litre |
| Road haulage tax credit allocation | 364.10 million euros |
The same reduced rate also applies to paraffinic diesel obtained through synthesis or hydrotreatment and to biodiesel put into consumption as fuel: a choice that avoids penalising alternative blends compared with the fossil product during the discount period.
The road haulage chapter
The measure does not concern only the pump. The decree extended the tax credit for road haulage into August, bringing the total allocation to 364.10 million euros. This is the part of the measure that does not pass through the pump display but through a tax benefit granted to companies in the sector, with a spending cap defined in the text.
Prices as the discount ends
The timing is the most politically sensitive part. According to data circulated by ANSA, diesel reached 2.130 euros per litre in the roadside full-service mode, while petrol reached 2.010 euros at roadside stations and 2.087 euros on motorways. The discount’s expiry therefore falls during a phase of rising prices and on the peak traffic days of the return from holidays.
It should be stated precisely what happens on 25 August in the absence of intervention: not a price increase decided by operators, but the return of the ordinary rate, with the arithmetic effect of bringing back onto the bill the roughly 17 cents currently suspended. This is an important distinction, because it shifts responsibility for the price movement from the distribution chain to the fiscal decision.
What remains open
Two elements are not settled. First: the decree-law must be converted into law by the Houses of Parliament, and conversion is the stage at which Parliament can amend its scope or terms. Second: none of the sources consulted report a new extension measure beyond 24 August. We therefore record the deadline as written in the text currently in force, without inferring that an extension is ruled out: a new decree can be adopted at any time and take effect from the day after publication.
The first verifiable confirmation will come from the Official Gazette: either a new decree appears by 24 August, or from the 25th the ordinary rate becomes applicable again and the difference can be read directly on pump displays, where price data is recorded daily.
Sources: Assotir, on DL 139/2026 in the Official Gazette; Edotto; Affaritaliani; Primapagina.tv, on the Council of Ministers’ statement of 4 August 2026.
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