Midnight has passed and so has the discount on diesel. From 6 October the excise duty on diesel returns to the ordinary rate of 672.90 euros per thousand litres, after having remained at 622.90 euros until yesterday. Five cents more excise duty which, with VAT, corresponds to 6.1 cents per litre. The interministerial decree that should have triggered the mobile excise duties on the morning of 6 October has not been published.
The detail has a certain importance because on 16 September Giorgia Meloni had indicated precisely this date. During the press conference after the Council of Ministers he explained that “on 5 October we won’t go to zero because the mobile excise duty system intervenes”. October 5th has passed, the discount has reached zero and the provision that should replace it is not yet there. The calendar, at least he, respected the deadline.
The discount had a very clear expiration date
The legislative decree of 17 September 2026, n. 162 did not leave much room for interpretation. From 18 to 25 September the excise duty on diesel was set at 572.90 euros per thousand litres, with an overall saving of 12.2 cents per liter also considering VAT. From 26 September to 5 October it had risen to 622.90 euros, reducing the discount to 6.1 cents per litre.
Then the decree ended there. From 6 October, without a new intervention, we will therefore return to the ordinary rate of 672.90 euros per thousand litres, provided for by current legislation. The difference compared to yesterday is 50 euros per thousand litres: five cents excise duty per litre, 6.1 once VAT has been added.
The Government knew this, of course. Precisely to avoid the step he had announced the intervention of mobile excise duties: a mechanism that allows the greater VAT revenue produced by the increase in fuel prices to be used to temporarily reduce excise duties.
The system did not just remain on paper. Over the summer, the Ministry of Economy has already adopted decrees for the temporary redetermination of rates. To do this even now, however, the relevant provision is needed. And the one expected to accompany the October 5th deadline did not arrive in time.
“Mobile excise duties will come into effect from 5 October”
In the press conference of September 16th Meloni was even more explicit. After announcing the progressive reduction of the discount, he explained that the Government had “perfected” a mechanism that had previously remained on paper and that this was now “fully operational”.
The proposed sequence was simple: 12.2 cent cut until 25 September, 6.1 cent cut until 5 October and, from that moment, mobile excise duties financed through the increased tax revenues collected by the State. The first part applied exactly as expected. The second one too. The third, for now, lacks the decree.
This does not mean that the measure cannot be adopted in the next few hours or days. It means that the announced transition did not take place by the deadline indicated by the Prime Minister herself. And for those who refuel today the difference is concrete: the previous benefit has ended, the following one has not come into force.
At the pump, however, the 6.1 cents did not appear all at once
Then there is another necessary distinction. The end of a 6.1 cent tax rebate does not mean that at 00:01 all distributors automatically raised the sign by the same amount.
data from the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy, updated to 6 October, show an average of 2.244 euros per liter for self-service diesel on the road network, compared to 2.242 euros the previous day: just 0.2 cents more. On the motorway it goes from 2.266 to 2.267 euros per litre.
The price at the pump also depends on the cost of the raw material, the operators’ margins and commercial policies. The tax increase can then be partially absorbed or passed on gradually. The figure of 6.1 cents describes the tax discount that has disappeared, not the increase already recorded today by the national average.
On a 50 liter tank that discount was worth around 3.05 euros. Not a revolution for the family budget, of course, but not even the promise made on September 16th was particularly nebulous: “on October 5th we won’t go to zero”. The date has arrived. Zero too. The decree, for now, no.
