Edited by Francesco Pizzo, Edoardo Baini and Federica Stranieri
On January 5, 2026, the Ministerial Decree dated December 29, 2025, was published in the Italian Official Gazette, setting out the “Procedures for the application of the excise duty on natural gas” as per the Articles 26, 26-bis, 26-ter and 26-quarter, in implementation of Art. 26-quinquies of the Italian Excise Duties Law (i.e., TUA).
The measure is part of the regulatory framework introduced by the Italian Legislative Decree no. 43/2025 and aims to implement the revision of the system for determining, settling and paying the excise duty.
Below are listed the main changes introduced by the Decree at stake with reference to authorizations, payment procedures, operating procedures for outside the scope cases (i.e., the so-called “usi fuori campo”), for mixed use cases (i.e., the so-called “usi promiscui”) and the use of the certified email (i.e. the so-called “PEC”).
Authorizations and preventive customs deposit
The taxpayers must notify their activity in advance to the competent office of the Customs authority. In addition, they must provide the customs authority with a deposit equal to 15% of the estimated annual excise duty due.
The taxpayers will have to adjust the amount of the deposit provided so that it is not lower than the arithmetic average of the excise duty due in the previous three months, by the end of the month following the reference quarter.
Monthly communications
Starting from April 1st, 2026, the sellers (of natural gas to the end-users) must communicate to the competent customs Office, exclusively via electronic means and by the end of each calendar month, the data relating to the quantities of natural gas invoiced, in relation to each territorial area (i.e. the so-called “ambito territoriale”), in the previous month.
Payments and returns
A mechanism for the payment of excise duty is established based on monthly advance instalments calculated, for sellers, on the excise duty due for the quantities of natural gas invoiced to the end-users in the previous month calendar and, for self-consumers, on the quantities of natural gas consumed in the previous month.
The settlement must be performed electronically through half-yearly returns, to be submitted by September 30 for the first half of the year (i.e., January 1 – June 30) and by March 31 of the following year for the second half of the year (i.e., July 1 – December 31).
Cases of exclusion from the application of excise duties
For cases of exclusion from the application of excise duties (e.g. metallurgical, mineralogical uses, etc.), the documentation provided by the consumer requesting the benefit must be sent by the seller, within 30 days, to the competent customs office.
Mixed use of natural gas
In case of mixed use of natural gas, the end-users may request the seller to apply excise duty rates relating to the different uses, exemption, or exclusion from the application of excise duty. In this respect, the end-user must provide the seller, in addition to the so-called self-certification, also with a technical report from a qualified person confirming the percentages of gas used for various purposes.
The documentation produced by the end-user requesting the benefit must be sent by the seller, within 30 days, to the competent customs office.
Use of the certified email (PEC)
Except for monthly communications and six-monthly returns, all documents and information concerning the excise duty on natural gas must be submitted to the Customs authorities via certified email (PEC).
Finally, the transitional provisions require the adjustment of customs deposits in place starting from April 1st, 2026, and the confirmation of the treatment for non-domestic uses (recorded as industrial uses in contracts in force as of December 31, 2025), which must be requested by end-users by means of self-certification.
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