There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Italians smoking. And now, thanks to the new Legge di Bilancio 2026, two of those are about to get even more expensive.
During a press conference this week, Italy’s Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti confirmed what everyone already knew but no one wanted to hear: cigarettes are going up in price. “Poco poco, ma sì, aumentano,” said Giorgetti — which roughly translates to, “Not much, but enough to ruin your morning espresso.”
Under the government’s latest “fiscal calendar” (because Italians can’t do anything without a sense of drama), tobacco taxes will rise gradually from 2026 to 2028, adding up to €1.50 per packet. It’s a clever way to squeeze smokers without making them quit all at once — after all, the economy still needs their lungs to fund public spending.
Traditional cigarettes will bear the brunt of the hike, while e-cigarettes — those sleek, USB-stick-like devices favoured by the health-conscious chain-smoker will be spared slightly. Apparently, it’s more politically palatable to tax nostalgia than technology.
For the uninitiated, over two-thirds of the cost of an Italian cigarette already goes straight to the government.
Between excise duties, VAT, and the shopkeeper’s 10% cut, by the time you light up, you’ve practically performed a patriotic act. Smoking in Italy isn’t a habit, it’s fiscal participation.
Of course, comparisons are inevitable. In Australia, smoking is practically extinct, not because of willpower, but because a packet costs about the same as a used car. Italians, however, treat cigarettes like cultural currency. Where Aussies sip oat lattes and do Pilates, Italians puff philosophically over their taxes, wondering whether the next budget might finally make fresh air taxable too. By 2028, when prices hit the projected €1.50 increase, Italy will have achieved something extraordinary: not fewer smokers, but poorer ones. Because in the Bel Paese, even quitting costs too much.
So raise your espresso cup and your cigarette, while you still can, to another brilliant Italian balancing act: surviving on fumes, both economic and tobacco.
