Giorgia Meloni 'will scrap road tax' for millions of Italians, on the eve of elections
Italian prime minister plan comes ahead of planned 2027 general elections
Giorgia Meloni is set to scrap road tax for millions of Italians, in what has been called "blatant electioneering," by her rivals.
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The Prime Minister has said that 14 million vehicles will no longer need to pay road tax from next year, with all motorcycles included and around three-quarters of cars being covered.
“We are abolishing one of the taxes Italians dislike most and continuing on the path of reducing the tax burden,” said Ms Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party is the largest in the ruling centre-right coalition.
Ms Meloni must call an election soon for 2027 and is facing a public debt of €2.3bn (£1.98 billion), which is one of the highest in the G7.
The road tax policy is thought to have been ushered in to try to drum up support for Brothers of Italy, which is facing stiff opposition in the polls from the centre-left coalition and far-right National Future.
Eugenio Giani, a member of the centre-Left Democratic Party, criticised the "electioneering" of the road tax policy, which has only been agreed for 2027, unless the centre-right party wins power again.
“In the 80-year history of the Republic, electoral demagoguery has never reached such a reckless level of poor governance as that seen in the prime minister’s announcement regarding the abolition of the tax for the majority of economy cars in our country,” he said.
Ms Meloni, who is Italy's first female leader, has ruled out working with National Future's far-right leader Roberto Vannacci and pledged to fight the next election on her own terms.
She previously said: “I would like to stay in office until the end of the legislature. I’ve taken some pride in the stability of this government."