Cutting excise duties isn't enough; VAT must be addressed. This is the view of the consumer association Altroconsumo, which has launched an online petition that quickly garnered over 235,000 signatures.
"Currently, conflicts in the Middle East are rapidly increasing the cost of gasoline and diesel (costs that the decree reforming gasoline and diesel excise duties certainly did nothing to control); the risk is that in the coming weeks, these price increases will have a heavy impact on consumers. The government," the petition reads, "has introduced temporary measures to control fuel costs, such as a 25-cent discount until May 1, 2026. We believe this is not enough and are calling for structural interventions: we are convinced that working on VAT could yield immediate and more significant results. Therefore, at this time, it is more important than ever to implement what we have been calling for with this petition for years: eliminating VAT on fuel to achieve significant savings on fuel prices."
Altroconsumo calls for "a structural measure aimed at eliminating VAT to be implemented as soon as possible."
Why is eliminating VAT the most effective measure? "We believe the time has come to act directly on VAT, eliminating it completely, as we have already requested in our letter to the government. Indeed, since VAT is a percentage (which, with its current rate of 22%, decisively determines the final price), it would have a greater impact than excise tax measures, even in the event of future fuel price increases and potential speculation in an already extremely volatile market."
