Various promises made to Italians. Here’s one: the Meloni government would not have raised taxes and would have thought about the country’s real problems. All resolved in increases spread in a more or less veiled way, which are like a hand in the citizens’ pocket. Furthermore, investments in weapons are certainly not a priority for those who have to deal daily with delays in healthcare, food inflation and salaries that have not grown for decades, yet they are there.
Despite the promises and proclamations, the Budget law affects wallets and increases or creates taxes, often lumping everything under the term “adjustment”. From taxes on car insurance policies to the increase in excise duties on diesel, the increase in the cost of cigarettes and the 2 euros for parcels coming from outside the European Union.
The issue is not whether these new taxes or increases are wrong, but that the Government presented itself as the entity that, after decades of keeping Italians’ hands in their pockets, would finally do something alternative, only to end up doing what everyone else does: look for resources for your requests.
Rc auto in increase
Dal January 1, 2026the rate applied to car insurance premiums relating to the risk of injury to the driver and the risk of roadside assistance increases. For all contracts stipulated or renewed starting from the new year, the rate goes from 2.5% to 12.5%.
This is a pretty substantial increase, especially if you look at what has happened in recent years. In fact, from 2022 to 2025 the average cost of a policy has already increased by +17.5%. We have passed from the average 353 euros in January 2022 to 415 euros of January 2025.
The cost of diesel increases
It couldn’t end with the insurance increase. Having a car will also cost more because of the increases on fuel. It is described as a realignment of excise duties on diesel, but in fact it is an increase of 4.05 euro cents per litre.
According to Codacons, this increase will bring an annual burden up to over 80 euros for those who have a diesel car. At least as far as the manythe adjustment to inflation was frozen for the third consecutive year thanks to the Milleproroghe decree.
The tax on non-EU parcels it is not the parcel tax against fast fashion wanted by the European Union. This is an additional tax for all packages with a price under 150 euros.
Described as an attempt to gather as many resources as possible, this parcel tax risks being a flop. In fact, Italy cannot decide taxes that concern the customs area, which is managed by the European Union. This type of contribution seems to go in this direction, making it de facto unfeasible.
The only way to make it work is for the tax on parcels under 150 euros to be on all parcels, both those coming from outside the EU and those coming from Italy or within the European Union. So it can be called a tax and not a duty, with all the resulting risks for artisans and small businesses.
Designed to limit the spread of fast fashion and products from Asian e-commerce, therefore against environmental pollution, the tax will not be paid by the same large platforms that make billions in earnings, but by consumers.
Cigarettes and e-cigarettes on the rise
Another increase justified by the need to deal with a health crisis, i.e. the negative consequences of the consumption of tobacco productsis the increase in the cost of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. An increase in excise duties is expected from 1 January 2026, with a progressive increase until 2028 equal to +0.40 euros compared to current prices.
Starting from 2026 the cost per package will increase by 0,15 eurobut there are also increases for shredded tobacco, heated tobacco and e-cigs. We have created a list of products and their increases starting from 2026 until 2028.
Dry coupon on short-term rentals
For short-term rentals there was a long struggle to ensure that the tax disappeared, but in the end a compromise was reached. There will be a double rate for the flat rate tax. If until today it was 21%, from 2026 the reduced rate of 21% will remain, but only for the first real estate unit. In the case of a second property the rate rises to 26%.
For so-called multi-owners, however, the presumption of entrepreneurial activity is automatically triggered and therefore the obligation to open a VAT number is automatically triggered.
Tobin tax doubled
Finally we can talk about the tax on financial transactionswhich will double. The Tobin tax goes from 0.02% to 0.04%.
It is estimated that 337.3 million euros go into state coffers, but there is no shortage of criticism. The greatest risk is to induce operators to move elsewhere, limiting the effectiveness of the tax and reducing investments.
