The real effect of the fuel check of 100 euros on the invoice
The new fuel check of 100 euros will be available this Monday. It will be paid once a year and concerns households with a reference tax income of less than 14,700 euros in 2021, i.e. 1,314 euros net per month for a single person, 3,941 euros for a couple have two children. To benefit from it, you must fill out a form on the impots.gouv.fr website. and provide his tax number, license plate number as well as a declaration on honor stating that we need his car to go to work. This is actually one of the arguments put forward for its implementation: more targeted aid that will benefit those who need it.
This aid was announced by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on December 7 to replace the discount at the pump, which was reduced from 30 to 10 euro cents per liter in mid-November, then removed at the end of December. The compensation of 100 euros should concern around 10 million people. Users of motorized two-wheelers can also benefit from this. The cost of this proposal will reach one billion euros for the State, said Elisabeth Borne. In 2022, the rebate at the pump will cost him 8 billion.
The 100 euro help, a small part of the bill
But what does this aid actually represent? Road fuel prices rose in France at the beginning of the year. At French service stations, diesel was sold on Monday for 1.90 euros per liter on average, an increase of 14.25% in a year, according to the site Carburants.org. Unleaded 95 reached 1.88 euros (+9.3%). Therefore, a full tank of this fuel costs more than 75 euros, for a small 40-liter tank like that of a Peugeot 208. With a journey of 12,000 kilometers per year (average for the French) that with a consumption of 7 liters per way (small car with gasoline), therefore it will be necessary to give 840 liters, that is, a bill of 1,600 euros. The 100 euros granted represents a relief of 6% of the amount.
This device is “equivalent to a discount of 10 cents per liter of fuel”, said on Friday the Delegate of the Minister of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal. And in fact, with a pump price of 1.80 euros, the average annual bill drops to 1,500 euros. On the other hand, un large tire (20,000 kilometers per year) will cost 2,700 euros throughout the year based on the current rate, assuming he travels in the same small vehicle. The 100 euro aid will no longer represent then … only 3.7% of its expenditure.
The association 40 million motorists denounces a “patch”. And a storm against taxes that “put France in third place in Europe in the competition for fiscal pain”. The total amount of taxes on diesel and unleaded fuel collected by the State will definitely fall in 2020 (-18%) and in 2021. But this is only because the French, imprisoned for several months, will not roll lightly. However, the motor vehicle generated 35.2 billion TICPE (domestic consumption tax on energy products) and VAT in 2020, according to figures published by the Automotive Platform (PFA). Taxes represent 60% of the price at the pump, according to the site economie.gouv.fr.
France, tax champion… every car!
TICPE “particularly affects heavy riders who are mainly rural people, people around the city with older cars and consume more, who are among the less affluent people” , said Jean-Philippe Hermine, director of mobility at the Institute for Sustainable Development and international relations, linked to Sciences-Po, with Challenges last spring. In 2020, the State levied 63 billion euros in total vehicle taxes (including 1.52 billion fines). In its comparative report on taxes in Europe, the Association of European Manufacturers suddenly pointed to France as the tax champion… every car!
Irony of history: this help of 100 euros comes when some service stations run out of fuel, as we experienced ourselves last Sunday in the north of Ile-de-France. Officially due to the rush of motorists anticipating the strikes. Even though we experienced the same fuel shortage at TotalEnergies in early January. CGT Petroleum is calling for several days of strikes on January 19 and 26 as well as February 6, to oppose the pension reform project. The key: “if necessary, stop” refining. The call for a strike will lead to “flow reduction” and “cease of shipments”, threatened Eric Sellini, national coordinator of the union for TotalEnergies.
