Some regional governors welcome the scrapping of the road tax, but there are fears that the reimbursement will not be enough. How to resolve the regional conundrum

Yesterday’s Council of Ministers approved a one-year suspension of vehicle tax for small and medium-powered cars and motorbikes. The exemption – which affects 14.5 million vehicles in total – has effectively kicked off the election campaign, drawing both enthusiasm and scepticism from the regions. That is to say, the public bodies that receive the revenue from the road tax (which is a regional tax) and which, according to the plan outlined yesterday by the government, are set to receive compensation of 2.3 billion euros for the lost revenue. The rules and funding arrangements for this, however, have yet to be finalised, and it is precisely this that is causing the regions the most concern.

Massimiliano Fedriga, the League’s president of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and president of the Conference of Regions, reassured his fellow governors: “This is a measure that we view even more favourably given the financial backing provided by the government, without placing any burden on regional budgets.” This was followed by praise from twelve centre-right governors, from Lazio to Sicily, including those from Veneto and Molise: “This measure eases the burden on the regions, which will be reimbursed by the state for an equivalent amount, without having to face the uncertainty associated with tax collection and the recovery of evaded taxes,” they wrote. “It is a measure that simplifies the relationship between citizens and institutions and stabilises the regions’ revenue in their dealings with the state.” 

On the Democratic Party side, concerns have emerged that the "reimbursement" does not adequately make up for the lost revenue. “I am unable to confirm or deny this; we are waiting for official documents to understand the situation,” explained Michele De Pascale, President of Emilia-Romagna, referring to Fedriga’s comments. “From what we know, we are talking about a cut of 2.3 billion out of a total of over seven billion in road tax revenue, with 550 million for the Emilia-Romagna region alone.” Eugenio Giani’s opposition was even more forthright: “In 80 years of the Republic, electoral demagoguery has never reached such a reckless level of misgovernance,” said the governor of Tuscany, who argued that, as regards the ‘reimbursements’ announced by the Prime Minister, “it is falsely claimed that these are compensatory measures. One need only read the decree to realise that, taking Tuscany as an example, a refund of just over 100 million euros is envisaged, depriving us of revenue amounting to around 350 million”. 

According to data provided by SIOPE (the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s information system), in 2025 vehicle tax generated €7.1 billion for the regions, amounting to an average of €267 per household. To examine the figures region by region, however, we can currently rely on the figures from the regional final accounts for the 2021 financial year, compiled by Istat and reported here by La Gazzetta. In that year, Lombardy was once again the region with the highest revenue, exceeding one billion euros, followed by Lazio with over 656 million and Veneto with almost 594 million. Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont both recorded figures in excess of 530 million, but there were also some regions with lower figures. Umbria, for example, stood at 84.5 million, Basilicata at just over 56 million, whilst Molise and Valle d’Aosta brought up the rear with 28.8 and 22.5 million euros respectively. It cannot therefore be ruled out that the unclaimed surplus from some of these regions might be transferred to make up for the (much higher) shortfall in revenue in others. 

According to government sources, the funding comes from savings on the PNRR funds. The draft decree-law published yesterday specifies that “the costs arising from this article, amounting to 2,362 million euros, shall be covered in accordance with Article 7”. The latter must indicate the total amount of expenditure provided for in the preceding articles and identify the relevant budget headings and state funds. However, it is currently still empty of content, as it must first be scrutinised by the State General Accounting Office before being finalised.