Fuel prices: criteria, conditions… who can get a new check for 100 euros?

There was no question of making this event a regular event. However, fuel benefits will return in 2024. This Sunday evening, Emmanuel Macron announced the renewal of this targeted increase to support workers in the face of sharp increases in prices at filling stations: a liter of SP95-E10 costs an average of 1.94 euros, and according to the latest government statement, diesel also costs 1.94 euros .

“I asked the government to continue to support working French people in the upcoming budget (…),” he explained. This is not a test, it is a mechanism that will be limited to workers, which will not go beyond what we call the first five deciles, that is, the 50% of the most modest French people, and which will be a maximum of 100 euros per car per year. It’s purposeful. We don’t help families who don’t need it. »

Five million people were affected

This is essentially a near-perfect renewal of the “workers’ fuel allowance” introduced in early 2023. “A budget package of around 500 million euros is already provided for in the draft finance law for 2024, which will be presented this Wednesday. in the Council of Ministers, assure the Ministry of Economy. We estimate that around 5 million people will be able to claim it among the poorest 50% of French people. »

To receive this €100 benefit, which can be claimed from mid-January, workers will have to meet the same criteria as last year: use their own transport (car, two-wheeler or even electric) to travel. and have a basic tax income per share less than or equal to approximately €14,700 per year. “Last year we were counting on revenue for 2021,” we continue in Bercy. There we will take into account income for 2022. Because wages have risen and we want to help the bottom 50% of French people, the required basic tax income will be increased slightly. “Out of how many? The exact figure, while unknown, “will change slightly”; it is only being clarified. Additionally, each member of the same couple, if they drive to work in a different vehicle, will be able to request a check. Then the supplement will be 200 euros for a family.

This time, you’ll have to claim “worker’s fuel compensation” again by filling out a short form on the Internal Revenue Service website. Help will not automatically arrive in your bank account or mailbox. “The situation of workers may have changed; we do not know, for example, who has a personal car and whether it is used for commuting,” explains Bercy. Proof: For 2023, the government expected one billion euros to fund 10 million fuel vouchers. Ultimately, 4.3 million workers benefited, at a cost to state coffers of €430 million.

According to Bercy data provided at the beginning of 2023, this €100 check represents the equivalent of a discount of more than 10 cents per liter over one year for the average motorist (12,200 km per year with a car consuming 6.5 l/100 hp .). km).

Although this Sunday the head of state explained that “whatever it takes”, Prime Minister Elisabeth Bourne must – in parallel with targeted assistance – resume discussions with professionals in the sector. On Tuesday afternoon, refiners, distributors and professional federations are expected to discuss sales at cost and thus cut bills for the French at the pump.