Car tax: if you don't pay it, it's automatically cancelled: the 'decree' everyone's been waiting for has passed.

The car tax has been automatically cancelled thanks to the decree passed just a few hours ago, the measure everyone has been waiting for.

For years now, there have been loud calls to eliminate the car tax, considered one of the most hated taxes in Italy. Every year, the tax arrives promptly and ends up affecting all vehicle owners.

Unfortunately, however, there are many people who are experiencing great economic difficulty and meeting their road tax obligations can be a real burden.

Thousands of people are racking up debt and can't seem to settle their accounts with the Revenue Agency. But finally, it seems, there's a way to avoid all this, because change has finally happened.

So here's what you need to know about it.

Car tax and the risks for those who don't pay

If the car tax is not paid, the matter is quickly forwarded to the Revenue Collection Agency , which notifies the tax bill, and from that moment the citizen has 60 days to pay.

In the absence of any action, the tax becomes final and the Tax Office can proceed with enforcement, using a variety of tools: seizure of movable or immovable property, freezing of bank accounts, administrative seizure of vehicles registered with the PRA (Registration of Vehicles), and reporting to databases. It seems no one is safe, even though there are assets and income that are not legally seized, such as primary residences (if they are the only ones and only if they are not luxury items), disability pensions, unemployment benefits, attendance allowances, and cars purchased with benefits under Law 104.

When the automatic reset occurs

What can happen is that the debtor has no seizable assets, and in that case there's no reason to wait for the stamp duty to expire, as previously. In fact, this new mechanism was introduced by the 2024 reform on the recovery of public debts. The new mechanism provides for the automatic discharge of tax bills when, after thorough checks, the Revenue Collection Agency determines that the debtor has no seizable assets or income.

Therefore, if you have no assets or only non-seizable assets, the maximum period for the seizure of the debt is five years. In this case, the debt is automatically eliminated, without any application or legal intervention. The decree also provides for early discharge after just two years, if no new assets to be seized emerge or if the tax authorities' inquiries are unsuccessful.