Self-employed transport professionals can now apply for direct aid to help offset fuel costs for certain vehicles. The application period opened on 1 November and ends on 31 December. To receive the aid, professionals who meet the requirements must submit an application online.
The money will be paid into the beneficiary's account, with payments expected from 1 December onwards. This is set out in Article 30 of Real Decreto-ley 25/2026: "Payment shall be made by bank transfer to the account indicated by the beneficiary in the aid application."
The call for applications covers certain lorries, vans, taxis, VTC vehicles, buses and ambulances. It is intended for vehicles that cannot benefit from the professional diesel tax refund and includes a specific provision for adapted taxis. The transport authorisation, the vehicle's characteristics and its fuel determine who can apply and how much they are entitled to.
As this outlet already reported, self-employed transport professionals complain that the aid is useless with diesel approaching two euros per litre. Employers' associations warned that fuel had risen by around 50 cents per litre in October, since the start of the Iran conflict, and were calling for direct aid of between 30 and 40 cents per litre, as well as faster payment of outstanding amounts.
The regulation covers the following situations:
Holders of VDE, VT, VTC, VSE, MDLE or MDPE transport authorisations, with the corresponding vehicles and registered with the Registro de Empresas y Actividades de Transporte. These are the categories covering buses, taxis, vehicles with driver, ambulances and goods transport.
Holders of urban buses, according to the classification of the Reglamento General de Vehículos, registered in the vehicle registry of the Dirección General de Tráfico.
Taxi drivers in Ceuta and Melilla, for whom the licence issued in these cities satisfies the VT authorisation requirement.
Holders of adapted taxis or eurotaxis, with a VT authorisation and registered with the transport registry, who were not listed in the census of beneficiaries of professional diesel refunds or among vehicles owned by them.
In addition, the activity must fall under one of the accepted headings of the Impuesto sobre Actividades Económicas. The list includes:
Urban collective transport (721.1), taxis (721.2) and road passenger transport (721.3).
Ambulance medical transport (721.4), road freight transport (group 722) and removals (group 757).
Other land transport services not classified elsewhere (729.3) and goods loading and unloading (751.6).
Freight forwarding and shipping agencies (756.1) and other transport brokerage services (756.9).
Operation of toll motorways, roads, bridges and tunnels (751.4).
The aid is assessed vehicle by vehicle. As a general rule, the following are excluded:
Vehicles eligible for the professional diesel refund, even if their owner has not applied for it. The regulation establishes an exception for the specific case of adapted taxis or eurotaxis described above.
Battery electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles, both fuel cell and combustion engine.
Therefore, owning several vehicles does not mean receiving aid for all of them; each one must meet the conditions of the call for applications.