The Time and Assobirra Budget Law once again calls for a reduction in excise rates, obtained last year only for small breweries, to allow increased investment in a sector that has not lost its growth potential, in the face of several years of declining consumption after a period of strong growth.
The request is reduced excise duty on beer from 2.99 to 2.97 euros per hectoliter and Plato’s Grado, with a estimated cost of 4.7 million euros in 2026; according to Assobirra «limited but strategic investments to support sectors that generate widespread wealth and quality jobs», bearing in mind that «the the sector generated a joint value of 10.4 billion euroshas approximately 112 thousand employees and, to date, each production worker creates 31 jobs along the supply chain. In ten years, beer has generated 92 billion in wealth and 24 thousand new jobs, contributing around 4 billion euros per year to general taxation, of which 1.5 billion is VAT and 689 million of which is customs by 2024.”
However, in the last two years there has been a decline in all parameters, which is exacerbated by the increase in excise duties (+20 million euros in 2024 alone) – the manufacturer claims – in the face of -1.5% in consumption and -7.8% in exports.
Customs duties, Assobirra explains, represent up to 40% of the consumer price on the most popular formats, such as 66cl, while for draft beer the average price is around 80 cents. “Reducing excise taxes does not only mean easing regressive taxes – he said Federico Sannella, president of AssoBirra – but to restore the drive for investment, employment and innovation.”
In fact, between 2017 and 2022, previous rate reductions are producing real results: +10% national consumption, +11% production, +5% barley cultivation and the launch of a project for Italian hops. Through the 2025 State Budget Law, important multi-year tariff reductions for small breweries whose production reaches 60 thousand hectoliters were also introduced, a useful measure although limited to only 3% of national production.”
