Italy's Car Tax in 2026: The Region-by-Region Exemption Map (and What Changes in 2027)

Why car tax season is trending again in September

Every year, between late summer and early autumn, Italian searches for bollo auto lombardia, bollo auto online and bollo auto germania spike again. It is the stretch when many regional renewal deadlines cluster, and when anyone who bought a car in spring discovers that Italy's annual car ownership tax, the bollo, varies substantially depending on where you live. In 2026 the topic is even more relevant, because on top of the usual regional patchwork there is a regulatory change taking effect in 2027 that specifically targets owners of powerful electric cars.

How the amount is actually calculated

The bollo, formally a vehicle ownership tax, is calculated by multiplying the engine's power in kW by a per-kW rate that depends on the car's emissions class (Euro 0, Euro 4, Euro 6, and so on): the more polluting the class, the higher the rate. For vehicles over 100 kW (roughly 136 hp), a tiered mechanism kicks in: the first 100 kW pay the base rate, and every kW above that threshold pays a higher rate. The exact figure for a given plate or set of technical specs can be calculated for free on the official ACI portal (online.aci.it/acinet/calcolobollo), which remains the most reliable source because it automatically applies whichever regional rates are currently in force.

The regional map: who exempts what

This is the part that surprises people who assume the bollo is a flat, uniform tax: it is not. For fully electric cars there is a national baseline of five years of exemption from first registration, but several regions go further. Lombardy and Piedmont, for instance, grant a total and permanent exemption for pure electric vehicles, with no expiry date: register an EV in Milan or Turin today and you will never pay the bollo on that car, no matter how many years pass. Hybrids are a much more fragmented picture: Piedmont extends the same full five-year exemption to hybrids, Lombardy caps it at a 50 percent discount for five years, and Emilia-Romagna offers no specific hybrid relief at all, meaning a hybrid there pays the same full rate as an equivalent combustion car. Before budgeting for a hybrid or electric car, the first step is always to check the rules of your region of residence, not the region on the plate, since that is what actually determines the bill.

The disability exemption: Legge 104

A less widely known area covers the exemption for people with a disability formally recognized by the relevant medical commission (severe mobility limitations, sensory disabilities, or a psychiatric or intellectual disability with an attendance allowance). The exemption covers a single vehicle per disabled person or per household with a dependent disabled family member, within specific engine limits: up to 2,000cc for petrol or hybrid engines, up to 2,800cc for diesel or hybrid-diesel, and up to 150 kW for a fully electric motor. The application must be filed within 90 days of the bollo's due date only for the first request; once granted, the exemption stays valid without needing annual renewal. It is worth checking even for families considering a car purchase for a disabled relative, since it permanently changes the cost of ownership.

The luxury surcharge: a surprise arriving in 2027

The superbollo, a surcharge on top of the ordinary bollo, applies to cars with more than 185 kW of power (about 252 hp) at a rate of 20 euros per kW above that threshold, tapering down progressively as the car ages from its manufacturing date, down to a full exemption past twenty years, with further relief for historic cars holding a Certificate of Historic Relevance. The real 2026 news, though, is regulatory: a new legislative decree establishes that starting January 1, 2027, regional exemptions on the ordinary bollo will no longer automatically extend to the superbollo. In practice, someone who today owns a high-performance electric car registered in Lombardy or Piedmont, and whose motor exceeds 185 kW (far from rare among recent premium EVs), will keep paying zero ordinary bollo but may still owe the superbollo portion starting in 2027. Anyone weighing a purchase, new or used, of a high-power EV should factor this into medium-term ownership costs now, before the rule takes effect.

Who pays the bollo when a car changes hands

For anyone selling or buying a used car, the practical rule is simple but often misunderstood: the bollo is owed by whoever is registered as the owner in the national vehicle registry (PRA) on the last day of the due month, not by whoever signed the sale contract earlier in the year. Any unpaid arrears remain a personal debt of the previous owner and do not transfer to the buyer; there is no joint liability for years predating the ownership transfer. That said, a car with unpaid arrears can still trigger administrative holds or practical complications, so the concrete recommendation for anyone buying used stays the same: check the bollo status through the ACI portal or the Revenue Agency's collection service before closing the deal, to avoid surprises even when, on paper, the debt is not legally yours.

How and where to pay online

Payment runs exclusively through PagoPA, available across several channels: the bollo.aci.it portal, the IO app, your bank's home banking service, post office counters, Lottomatica and Sisal outlets, participating tobacconists, and authorized CAF tax-assistance centers. The actual payment deadline does not match the month printed on the certificate: the tax is due by the last day of the month following the expiry month (a bollo expiring in September must be paid by October 31). Marking that window on a calendar avoids late-payment penalties, which apply automatically from the day after.

The practical takeaway before you buy or sell

Whether you are listing a car for sale on VendiVoce or evaluating one to buy, it is worth adding bollo status to the list of documents you check alongside the registration certificate and ownership history. It takes a few minutes on the ACI portal and immediately clarifies whether there are outstanding payments, what exemption regime that model qualifies for in your specific region, and whether it will fall under the new superbollo threshold once the 2027 rule kicks in. On a hybrid or electric car in particular, that check can be worth several hundred euros a year in either direction.

Sources

1. ACI - L'Automobile, Bollo auto 2026: scadenze, tariffe ed esenzioni. La guida completa
2. AutoScout24, Bollo auto Lombardia 2026: calcolo, pagamento, esenzioni e scadenza
3. Regione Lombardia, Esenzione bollo per acquisto auto a basse emissioni e agevolazioni per veicoli ibridi - Anno 2026
4. Altroconsumo, Superbollo auto: come si calcola, scadenze, esenzioni, pagamenti arretrati e le novità dal 2027
5. Newsauto.it, Bollo auto ibride ed elettriche, agevolazioni nel 2026 per regione
6. InformazioneFiscale.it, Esenzione bollo auto Legge 104: a chi spetta e come si richiede
7. Autoatto.com, Bollo Arretrato su Auto Usata 2026: Chi Paga
8. Pratiche.it, Bollo e superbollo auto: cosa cambia davvero dal 2026