More tax hikes on gas in Italy

We’ve already talked about gas prices in Italy and the two euros mark for a litre for unleaded gas has already been toppled in several regions, now the Monti government is going to for another additional five cent tax hike.

This new tax hike isn’t going to pay for the sovereign debt crisis, but for the reform of the Italian Civil Protection Service (the emergency management agency) and is simply called the ‘adversity’ tax.

Not only are they going to slap more taxes on gas, it seems that they are going to add an extra tax of two cents for every text message (SMS) sent.

In Italy sending a text message already costs five times more than in other European countries.
According to a recent article in The Economist who researched rising gas prices across the European continent, Italian’s are already forking out over 18% more than last year on gas, while reporting that Holland and Norway are the two countries where filling up your gas tank costs more.

More and more Italian’s are leaving their cars and big bikes parked in their garages and using scooters and bicycles to move around, with the result that sales at gas pumps have fallen by 17% to 20% over the last months.