There was no question of making it a regular event. However, the fuel allowance will be back in 2024. This Sunday evening, Emmanuel Macron has indeed announced the return of this targeted boost to support workers in the face of skyrocketing prices at the pump, with a liter of SP95-E10 at 1.94 euros on average and diesel at 1.94 euros as well, according to the latest government statement.
“I asked the government, for the upcoming budget, to continue to support working French people (…), he explained. It’s not a check, it’s a mechanism which will be limited to workers, which will not exceed what we call the first five deciles, that is to say the 50% of the most modest French people, and which will be a maximum of 100 euros per car per year. It’s targeted. We do not help households that do not need it. »
Five million people affected
In fact, it is an almost perfect renewal of “ worker fuel allowance » implemented at the start of 2023. “The budget envelope of around 500 million euros is already provided for in the finance bill for 2024 which will be presented this Wednesday to the Council of Ministers, we ure the Ministry of the Economy. We estimate that around 5 million people will be able to request it among the lowest 50% of French people. »
To benefit from this aid of 100 euros, which can be claimed from mid-January, workers will have to meet the same criteria as last year: use their own vehicle (car, two-wheeler, even electric) to travel. return to work and have a reference tax income per share less than or equal to approximately 14,700 euros per year. “Last year, we based ourselves on 2021 income,” we continue at Bercy. There we will take into account the income of 2022. As wages have increased, and we want to help 50% of the lowest-income French people, the required reference tax income will be slightly increased. ” Of how many ? The precise figure, not yet known, “will evolve marginally”, we only specify. Furthermore, each member of the same couple – if they use a different vehicle to get to work – will be able to request the check. The boost will then be 200 euros for a household.
VIDEO. Emmanuel Macron announces new aid on fuels
This time again, you will have to claim “worker fuel compensation” by completing a quick questionnaire on the tax website. The aid 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 or not it is used to go to work,” we explain in Bercy. The proof: for 2023, the government had counted on an envelope of one billion euros to finance 10 million fuel checks. Ultimately, 4.3 million workers benefited, at a cost of 430 million euros for public coffers.
According to figures from Bercy communicated at the start of 2023, this check for 100 euros represents the equivalent of a discount of more than 10 cents per liter for one year for an average motorist (12,200 km per year with a vehicle consuming 6.5 liters /100 km).
While the Head of State clarified this Sunday that “whatever it takes” was over, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne must – in parallel with targeted aid – relaunch discussions with professionals in the sector. This Tuesday afternoon, refiners, distributors and professional federations are expected in Matignon to discuss “cost price” sales and thus reduce the bill for the French at the pump.