The Guardia di Finanza has intensified checks on the fuel sector throughout the province of Sassari and northeastern Gallura, uncovering irregularities at several distribution facilities.
The operation, launched in the last three months, is also linked to the entry into force of the interministerial decree on the "realignment of excise duties," which modified the rates on gasoline and diesel.
The Guardia di Finanza (Fiamme Gialle) targeted numerous distributors selected based on specific risk profiles . The investigations focused on compliance with the obligation to report prices to the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy, the correct display of tariffs, and the correspondence between the displayed prices and those actually charged.
The inspections uncovered irregularities at three facilities, which were fined a total of €2,800 . The most common violations involved the failure to display or publish prices and the failure to indicate the prices of special fuels on designated billboards.
A more serious case occurred at a petrol station where an irregularity in diesel dispensing was detected . Checks, carried out using a "double decalitre" (a 20-liter measuring instrument), revealed a deficiency that exceeded three times the legally required tolerance limits.
During three tests , the actual quantities dispensed were 22 cl lower in the first case, and 30 cl lower in the other two. In addition to the administrative fine for violating Article 692 of the Criminal Code, a complaint was also filed for commercial fraud (Article 515 of the Criminal Code), resulting in the seizure of two dispensers.
The operator was reported to the Tempio Pausania Public Prosecutor's Office . At the same time, a tax audit of excise duties was initiated, which revealed a total difference of over 25,000 liters of fuel not dispensed compared to the quantities recorded since the beginning of the year. This anomaly, in addition to harming users, creates distortions in the market and competition.
The plant owner was also reported to the Customs and Monopolies Agency for recovery of the evaded excise duty, and to the Revenue Agency for failure to pay VAT on the unsold fuel.
Excise tax irregularities, in fact, cause a double blow: on the one hand, they erode state revenues, on the other, they encourage unfair practices and, in some cases, the infiltration of organized crime into the fuel trade.
(Unioneonline/Fr.Me.)