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The Council of Ministers, as far as we know, has approved the law decree regarding the cost of fuel. The excise duty cut of 17 cents per liter on diesel fuel has been extended until 5 September, as government sources explain. The cost of the measure would be around 130 million euros.
The decision was taken after fuel prices are still rising: the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy announced that, based on the latest data collected by the Mimit Observatory on fuel prices, today the average price of fuel in self-service mode along the national road network is equal to 2.017 euros per liter for petrol (2.015 yesterday’s price) and 2.137 euros per liter for diesel (2.136 yesterday’s price). On the motorway network, however, the average self-service price is 2.092 euros per liter for petrol (2.091 yesterday) and 2.208 euros per liter for diesel (2.207 yesterday).
After the expiry of the discount on excise duties on diesel, extended today by the Council of Ministers until 5 September, the government plans to activate new methods of support against the high cost of fuel, “selective on the basis of income”. The strategy, anticipated yesterday by sources at Palazzo Chigi, was confirmed during today’s meeting of the Council of Ministers, as reported by several sources. The forms of these measures will be evaluated in these days.
Tax advance on advance dividends of large energy groups
A new tax advance tax mechanism for advance dividends, intended for large energy groups, should be introduced with the fuel law decree approved by the Council of Ministers. In a draft of the provision, seen by Ansa, there is in fact a measure aimed at energy companies with revenues in 2025 of over 20 billion euros. The advance payment, we read in the text of the draft, gives the company an equivalent tax credit. The measure, as government sources explain, was defined in agreement with the groups involved.
Confesercenti: up to 1.8 billion more for full tanks
This summer, filling up has cost Italians up to 1.8 billion euros more than in July and August last year. A burden that weighed on family budgets precisely in the two central months of the holidays, impacting mobility and tourist consumption. This is the estimate of the Confesercenti economic office, drawn up on an equal consumption basis based on Mimit data and with the August findings now almost definitive: overall, in July and August 2026 motorists incurred a 21% higher cost for refueling compared to the same months of 2025.
In the summer of 2025 – we read in the note from the operators – petrol stood at around 1.70 euros per liter and diesel at 1.63 euros. In August 2026 the average is around 2 euros for petrol and above this threshold for diesel. The Mimit survey of 23 August, on the road network in self mode, indicates 2.010 euros per liter for petrol and 2.130 for diesel. Translated into a 50-litre tank, it means around 14 euros more than a year ago for a petrol car and over 20 euros more for a diesel one.
The weight of the excise duty cut
«Without public intervention – underlines the note – the bill for motorists would have been even heavier. In the months of July and August alone, the excise duty cut reduced spending on supplies by around 300 million euros. A benefit concentrated above all on diesel fuel: for a good part of July, in fact, the reduction was not operational and, when it was reintroduced from 28 July, it only affected diesel, with a discount of 17 cents per litre. In the absence of the provision, a 50-litre tank would have cost around 8.50 euros more. Petrol, however, has never fallen within the scope of the intervention since the beginning of July.”
The provision of a further extension is therefore “certainly useful” for the association: “In the absence of new resources, the 17 cents would therefore return to weighing entirely on the price at the pump right at the height of the counter-exodus and on the eve of September, a month in which at least 15 million tourists are expected and which continues to represent an important phase of the season”.