Since Monday, the monthly subsidy of five euros issued by the Autovoucher entity has risen to 20 euros to compensate for the sharp rise in fuel prices.

The Autovoucher is now 20 euros. How does it work?

Autovoucher, which came into force in November 2021, was increased in early March from five euros a month to 20 euros to compensate for the unprecedented rise in fuel prices. This program uses the same platform as IVAucher (a program for restaurants, culture and accommodation).

"Faced with escalating priceWe had to act immediately," declared Finance Minister João Leão at a press conference last Friday, announcing that Autovoucher would be giving out 20 euros in March. For the time being, the government still does not know whether the program will continue in April, referring to the evaluation that will be made within the European framework to then decide.

With this "discount", there is a saving of 30 cents per liter on an average consumption in Portugal of 70 liters per car, according to Mr. Leão. However, one problem remains: consumer membership of the IVAucher platform, a necessary condition for accessing the aid. The minister said that membership was easy, but acknowledged that only 1.6 million taxpayers had registered so far.

This justifies the fact that the State has only paid out 26 million euros to date, whereas the forecast is 133 million euros for the last five months as a whole. Now, with this increase in the subsidy for March alone, the Ministry of Finance is forecasting an additional expenditure of 40 million euros.

So, how do you benefit from this assistance

Assistance will be granted per taxpayer, not per household. Three essential conditions must be met: you must register via your NIF on the IVAucher/Autovoucher people who have already registered do not need to do so again. You must fill up at a participating service station and pay the bill with a credit card in your name.