More about Italy

On 16th August, I contacted Italian customs to ask about whether a tourist in Italy can legally use vegetable oil to fuel their car. Two and a half months later, they have replied. They don't say there is any specific rule against the fuel, but it does appear that there is no way for a private individual to use it legally. This is because it is illegal to use it without paying a tax and "current provisions do not provide" for private individuals to pay the tax. There may be a way round this if a company buys the fuel, pays the tax and sells it to the individual - does anyone know of any companies doing this in Italy?

Dear Sir,

in reply to your question, we would like to state beforehand that the Community provisions concerning excise duties on energy products establish the principle according to which “any product intended for use, offered for sale or used as motor fuel, or as an additive or extender in motor fuels, shall be taxed as motor fuel” (Article 2, paragraph 3, of Directive 92/81/EEC, as also stated in Article 2, paragraph 3, second sentence of Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003). On the subject, we specify that the excise duty falls due on entry for home use, and the obligation has to be met, among the others, by the taxpayer to whom the conditions for the payment of the duty apply.
That being stated, seed oil, whenever used as motor fuel, must be taxed at the same rate as the equivalent fuel (gas oil); current provisions do not provide for the specific case of a private consumer paying the tax; it is nonetheless true that an individual who purchases seed oil on the free market and uses it in his car tank becomes a taxable person, for the purposes of excise duties, since the utilization of the fuel is taxable even though the product is tax free.
In other words, the use itself gives rise to the application of the duty.

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