Meloni plans to scrap road tax for 14 million Italians ahead of 2027 election, rivals brand it 'blatant electioneering'

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has unveiled a plan to scrap road tax on around 14.5 million vehicles from next year, a move set to cost Rome's already strained state finances more than €2.3 billion. Motorcycles and over 70 per cent of small- and medium-sized cars would qualify, though each citizen may claim the relief on only one insured vehicle. In the polls, Meloni's centre-right coalition is behind the centre-left and faces a growing challenge from Roberto Vannacci's new hard-right National Future party.

Meloni said she is 'abolishing one of the taxes Italians dislike most' and continuing her 'tax-cutting agenda.'

Centre-left Democrat Eugenio Giani called it the worst 'electoral demagoguery' in Italy's 80-year republican history.

The exemption runs only through 2027 and would expire if the centre-right loses the next election.