Italy's 2028 Car Tax Reform: What Used-Car Sellers, Buyers and Dealers Need to Know

What the Council of Ministers approved on August 5

On 5 August 2026, Italy's Council of Ministers signed off on a legislative decree overhauling regional and local taxation, with a section devoted specifically to the car tax known as il bollo auto [1][2]. This is not a rate hike: the amount owed still depends on registered power in kilowatts (the figure on line P.2 of the vehicle's registration document), the car's Euro emissions class, and region-set tariffs [3]. What changes is the calendar governing when the tax is calculated and paid. The new rules take effect on 1 January 2028, so there is nothing to do today, but anyone buying, selling or trading used vehicles, private sellers and dealers alike, has good reason to understand the details now, because they touch the exact moments when a car changes hands.

How the first bollo works for new registrations

From 2028, a new car's first bollo will no longer follow the fixed national windows of April, August and December still used in most regions. Instead it will cover twelve months from the month of registration, payable by the last day of the month after that registration [1][4]. Several outlets cite the same worked example: a car registered on 14 March 2028 would need its bollo paid by 30 April of that year, regardless of the exact day it was plated [1].

Renewals: tied to the plate month, not a shared national date

From the second year onward, renewal payments will be due by the last day of the month matching the vehicle's original registration month, rather than one of today's three shared national windows [1][4]. The intent is to spread the administrative load evenly across the year and cut down on the calculation errors that pile up when millions of vehicles share the same three payment dates.

Cars already on the road keep their current schedule

Important for anyone who already owns a used car: the decree does not touch deadlines that have already accrued. Vehicles already registered will keep paying under today's calendar, with nothing to recalculate on 1 January 2028 [1]. The reform mainly affects cars registered fresh after that date, and, as the next section shows, ownership transfers in the meantime.

The detail that matters most to sellers: a 60-day PRA window

The least-reported part of the reform is likely the most consequential for anyone working in used vehicles. Dealers can already suspend the bollo on cars they hold purely for resale; from 2028, that suspension will only stand if the ownership transfer is recorded with the PRA, Italy's public vehicle register, within 60 days of the dealer taking possession [2]. Miss that window and the benefit lapses. The exemption runs from the tax period following the dealer's purchase through the month before the car is resold [2]. Once the car finds its next owner, that buyer is the one who has to pay a top-up to realign the tax deadline back to the vehicle's original registration month [2]. In practice: anyone managing used-vehicle stock, even a small independent dealer with a handful of cars on the lot, will need faster and more precise PRA paperwork to keep the exemption, and buyers should expect a possible bollo adjustment at the moment of transfer.

What stays the same

Worth repeating, because it is the detail most likely to get garbled in translation: the reform changes neither the amount owed nor how it is calculated. Power output, Euro emissions class, and region-set tariffs within national limits all remain exactly as they are. The five-year exemption for electric vehicles already offered by several regions is also confirmed [3][5]. Anyone worried about paying more from 2028 can relax, this reform is about procedure and timing, not higher taxes.

Quarterly payments: an option, not a mandate

Regions will also gain the discretion to let certain vehicle categories pay the bollo in four-monthly instalments rather than one annual lump sum [4]. This will not be a uniform national rule, each region decides independently whether, and for whom, to activate it, so anyone buying a used car registered outside their own region should check this detail at the point of transfer.

Administrative seizure does not cancel the tax

The decree also settles a contentious point: the bollo remains due even while a vehicle is under an administrative tax seizure, a fermo amministrativo, ordered by the collection agency [2]. Buyers looking at a car with unresolved back taxes should check its status carefully before signing, since a seizure does not suspend the underlying tax obligation.

Why now

The bollo has long been one of the most fragmented taxes in the Italian system: every region applies the same base rates but manages its own deadlines, extra exemptions and enforcement independently, with payments still clustered into three national windows that have become a bottleneck for regional offices and for ACI-PRA during peak months. The decree's stated goal is to spread payments across the year by anchoring them to each vehicle's registration month, and to standardise controls and record-keeping across regions [3][5]. For drivers, the practical payoff should be shorter queues at peak times and a deadline tied to a date only their own car shares, rather than one shared by millions of vehicles at once.

One caveat: the final text isn't in the Gazzetta Ufficiale yet

Worth flagging before anyone acts on this: as of publication, the decree's final text has not yet appeared in Italy's Official Gazette, and several outlets note that details could still shift during the parliamentary passage [3]. The core mechanics, twelve months from the plate date, deadlines tied to the registration month, and the 60-day PRA condition on resale stock, are confirmed across multiple independent sources and form the backbone the reform is built on.

What to do between now and 2028

If you are selling a car privately, nothing changes immediately, but if the transfer happens after 2028, know that your buyer may owe a top-up to realign the payment schedule. If you run a used-vehicle trading business, the 60-day PRA window becomes an operational deadline worth building into your process, since missing it means losing the suspension on your stock. If you are buying used, now or later, checking for outstanding administrative seizures remains good practice regardless of this reform. And keep an eye on the Gazzetta Ufficiale over the coming months, that is when the final details will be locked in before the new rules take effect.

Sources

1. Quattroruote - Bollo auto 2028: tutte le novita della riforma su pagamenti, scadenze e noleggio
2. AutoScout24 - Bollo auto, via libera alla miniriforma: cosa cambiera per automobilisti e dealer dal 2028
3. HDmotori - Bollo auto, e rivoluzione dal 2028: tutte le novita della miniriforma
4. Motori.it - Bollo auto 2028: pagamento quadrimestrale e nuove scadenze
5. MilanoFinanza - Bollo auto, via alla riforma: ecco come cambiano pagamenti e scadenze