Italy Suspends Motorcycle Tax in 2027: Who Benefits and Who Does Not

• No tax on payments falling due between 1 January and 31 December 2027
• Motorcycles without any power limit, cars only up to 80 kW (109 hp)
• According to the government, around 1.1 million motorcycles benefit

In Italy, the annual tax on owning a vehicle is called the bollo. Motorcyclists have had to pay it every year, even if the machine never leaves the garage. For 2027 this levy will be dropped for many riders. The Council of Ministers approved the exemption on 16 September 2026. A day later it appeared in the official gazette as an emergency government decree, Decreto-legge No. 162 of 17 September 2026. At first glance it sounds very simple for motorcyclists. In detail, however, there are rules that decide whether the motorcycle really ends up being exempt, or another vehicle instead.

What changes in 2027 for motorcycle tax in Italy?

For the 2027 calendar year, private individuals in Italy will not have to pay vehicle tax on one vehicle. This applies to cars up to 80 kW (109 hp) and to all motorcycles and mopeds, no matter how powerful they are.

The decisive factor is the date on which the tax would normally fall due. All payments whose regular due date falls between 1 January and 31 December 2027 are exempt. Anyone who still has to pay the bollo in 2026 therefore remains liable. Outstanding amounts from earlier years are not cancelled either.

Strictly speaking, this is a temporary suspension and not a definitive abolition. The government says it intends to turn it into a permanent solution, via the next budget law. Whether that will work is currently open.

The exemption is part of a larger package aimed at high fuel prices. Petrol in Italy now permanently costs more than 2.10 euros (around 2.41 US dollars) per litre nationwide. The same decree therefore also temporarily reduces the tax on diesel. From 18 to 25 September 2026 that lowers the price by 12.2 cents (around 14 US cents) per litre. From 26 September to 5 October 2026 the reduction is 6.1 cents (around 7 US cents).

Which motorcycles are exempt from the tax?

The exemption covers motorcycles and mopeds running on petrol or diesel, including in combination with another drive system. For two-wheelers there is no limit on power output or displacement.

That is the most important difference compared with cars. For passenger cars the limit is 80 kW, which corresponds to roughly 109 hp. For motorcycles the decree names no such threshold. A small 125 therefore falls under the rule just as much as a large adventure bike.

Some conditions still apply. Only private individuals receive the exemption, not companies. The vehicle must be properly covered by third-party liability insurance. And each person can use the exemption for one single vehicle only. That refers to each individual registered keeper, not to the entire household. If two spouses are each the sole keeper of a vehicle, both of them can therefore claim the exemption.

For many motorcyclists there is a catch: the motorcycle is only exempt if the keeper does not at the same time owe tax on a car of up to 80 kW.

Which vehicle is exempt if you own several?

Anyone owning several vehicles cannot freely choose which one is exempt. The decree sets out a fixed order of priority.

A car and a motorcycle in one name

If someone owns a car of up to 80 kW (109 hp) plus a motorcycle, the car is exempt. The tax on the motorcycle is due as usual. The exemption can neither be doubled nor transferred from the car to the motorcycle.

Things look different if the car is more powerful than 80 kW. In that case the car drops out of the rule and has to keep being taxed. The exemption then goes to the motorcycle.

Several motorcycles or scooters

If someone only owns two-wheelers, the motorcycle with the lowest power output in kW is exempt. If two machines have the same power output, the exemption applies to the one with the lower tax. With several mopeds, by contrast, the vehicle with the oldest first registration counts.

One example shows what this means in practice: anyone owning a motorcycle with 82 hp (60 kW) and a typical 125 scooter with 15 hp (11 kW) only saves the tax on the scooter. Tax remains payable on the more powerful motorcycle. Exactly how these rules are applied in mixed cases will have to be shown by the final text of the law.

Incidentally, the power output appears in the Italian vehicle registration document under field P.2. It is stated in kW and determines the exemption, not the displacement.

Some keepers are considering transferring a vehicle to their partner so that both vehicles are exempt. In theory that works. However, such a change of keeper costs at least 110 euros (around 126 US dollars) if it is handled without a registration agency. Whether it is worth it depends on how high the tax is and on whether the exemption applies beyond 2027.

How much does the tax exemption cost the Italian state?

According to the government, the exemption costs around 2.36 billion euros (around 2.71 billion US dollars) for 2027. Of that, roughly 2.29 billion euros (around 2.63 billion US dollars) goes to the regions as compensation.

In Italy the bollo is a regional tax. The regions lose revenue because of the exemption. The decree therefore provides for a payment of 2,293.5 million euros to the regions and autonomous provinces. How much money each individual region receives is to be settled by 31 March 2027.

According to prime minister Giorgia Meloni, the measure affects more than 70 percent of the cars in the country, in other words over 13.2 million vehicles. On top of that come around 1.1 million motorcycles. In total that adds up to almost 14.5 million vehicles. According to the transport ministry, 24,608,867 people in Italy own at least one vehicle of up to 80 kW.

Meloni said of the decision: “Oggi il governo cancella una delle tasse più odiate dagli italiani” (in English: “Today the government scraps one of the taxes most hated by Italians”). She compared the step with the earlier abolition of property tax on a first home. Transport minister Matteo Salvini spoke of a promise kept. Finance minister Giancarlo Giorgetti is regarded internally as the most cautious voice. He called the decision a difficult one, but it is nevertheless meant to become permanent.

Why does the Lega call this a historic result for motorcyclists?

Lega member of parliament Alberto Di Rubba sees the exemption as a sign that the motorcycle is finally being taken seriously as a means of transport. He heads his party’s automotive department and runs motorcycle dealerships himself.

For him the important point is that the rule applies to all motorcycles, regardless of displacement or power. He says: “È un risultato storico e rappresenta un’altra promessa mantenuta” (in English: “This is a historic result and another promise kept”). The measure, he argues, recognises the value of the motorcycle as a means of getting around, as a passion and as the driving force behind an entire industry.

Di Rubba describes himself as a motorcyclist who also knows the sector from the dealer side. He talks every day to people who buy a motorcycle to ride to work, to travel, to ride enduro or simply to look forward to the weekend. For him this is also about the real costs of the hobby: purchase, servicing, insurance, inspections, tyres and gear. Scrapping a tax is therefore nothing abstract. He stresses: “È un costo in meno ogni anno per milioni di motociclisti” (in English: “It is one cost less every year for millions of motorcyclists”).

In his account, the exemption is part of a longer development. Under Salvini, the transport ministry has already implemented several measures for motorcyclists. Under the new Italian traffic law, motorcyclists count as particularly vulnerable road users. There are also new rules for riding motorcycles on motorways when the rider is of legal age. On top of that comes work on underrun protection for crash barriers, intended to protect motorcyclists in a fall.

As the next step, Di Rubba wants to pay even more attention to two-wheeler safety. He is relying on dialogue with the Italian motorcycle federation FMI and its president Giovanni Copioli. One topic is enduro. Many off-road motorcycles have to cover short stretches on public roads to reach a trail or to link two sections. Here he wants to find balanced solutions that bring together safety, rules and the needs of riders.

Criticism of the time-limited exemption

The opposition criticises less the exemption itself than its short duration and its timing. The next parliamentary election is a little over a year away.

MP Andrea Casu of the PD speaks of a suspension for campaign reasons rather than a genuine abolition. PD leader Elly Schlein also criticises the approach. Luca Pirondini, a senator for the Five Star Movement, calculates that an average car driver saves only around 10 euros (around 11 US dollars) per month. That does not offset the increased fuel costs. Senator Marco Lombardo of Azione considers it wrong to limit the exemption to one year that happens to be the election year. That way the next government has to decide whether it becomes permanent. Other politicians fear that the regions will recoup their lost revenue through higher charges elsewhere.

Consumer advocates are divided too. The Unione Nazionale Consumatori calls the measure a mockery and points to what it sees as an insufficient effort against fuel prices. Dario Giordano of the Udicon association, by contrast, welcomes the fact that the exemption is tailored to the situation of the individual keeper. He cautions, however, that people with little money and older vehicles must not be disadvantaged.

From the riders’ point of view there is one further objection. Because the exemption is complete, the owner of a mid-size motorcycle saves exactly as much as the owner of a considerably more powerful machine. Critics see that as a contradiction of the principle that taxes should be proportionate to ability to pay.

What is still open on the motorcycle tax exemption?

Above all it is open whether the exemption will become law in exactly this form. As an emergency decree, parliament has to confirm it within 60 days, and the content can still change in the process.

It is also unclear how keepers will actually obtain the exemption. So far the government has named neither a form nor a portal nor a deadline. Whether the exemption is granted automatically has not been described either. Which vehicle will be exempt and how special cases are treated should be clarified by the final text and by guidance from the responsible authorities. Keepers will learn whether the exemption applies to their own registration through notices from their region and through the services of the ACI automobile club.

There is a special situation in the regions with special statute and in the autonomous provinces. There, the regions levy the tax themselves. The exemption therefore only takes effect once the state has reached an agreement with the region concerned. It is also unclear what happens from 2028 if the budget law fails to deliver a permanent solution.

For the market, the exemption could provide a boost. Scooter sales in Italy are currently going well, while motorcycles are seeing a slight decline. Anyone thinking about buying a two-wheeler saves the annual tax in 2027. Observers reckon that could be an additional incentive.

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