Green mobility
On December 3, 2021, the "law on fiscal and social greening of mobility" was
published in the Belgian Official Gazette. Notwithstanding some provisions will
only come into effect in a few years' time, it is important to take measures in
due time.
Carbon-free commercial vehicles
The law consists out of five major parts. The first part wants to encourage
employers to make the cars that they offer to their staff greener. 'Encourage'
is perhaps somewhat mildly expressed... Company cars with CO2 emissions higher
than zero, purchased, leased or rented as from 1 January 2026, are no longer tax
deductible.
There will then only be a tax deduction for carbon-free company cars. But this
deduction also decreases over the years: a carbon-free company car purchased in
2026 is 100% deductible. But if you buy such a carbon-emission-free company car
in 2027, you are only entitled to a tax deduction of 95%. For a purchase in
2028, that is still 90% ... and so on, until 2031. Then you are only entitled to
a tax deduction of 67.50%.
A transitional arrangement applies to company cars with CO2 emissions that were
purchased before 2026. If the car was purchased before 1 July 2023, everything
will remain as it is now. There is only a small correction for the hybrid
vehicles.
When purchasing a car between 1 July 2023 and 31 December 2025, the old scheme
also still applies, but for those cars the deduction for tax year 2026 will
still amount to a maximum of 75% (instead of 100%). For tax year 2027, that
deduction percentage will decrease further to 50%, and 25% for tax year 2028. As
from tax year 2029, the deduction will be reduced to zero.
Commercial
vehicles without CO2 emissions were, and remain, 100% deductible.
Also note that the cost deduction of 0,15 euro per kilometer for commuting with
one's own car will only be allowed from tax year 2027 if the employee drives a
carbon-emission-free car.
Solidarity contribution
Today, the employer pays a solidarity contribution on all vehicles that it makes
available to employees. Currently (2022) this contribution amounts to at least
28,17 euro per month, but it also depends on CO2 emissions.
For vehicles purchased, leased or rented as from 1 July 2023, the solidarity
contribution increases by a factor of 2,25. The factor then increases on 1
January 2025 (to 2,75), 1 January 2026 (to 4) and 1 January 2027 (to 5.50).
The minimum amount of the CO2 solidarity contribution also increases: to 23,41
euro on 1 January 2025, 25,99 euro on 1 January 2026, 28,57 euro on 1 January
2027 and 31,15 euro on 1 January 2028.
Charging infrastructure for electric cars
In order to encourage taxpayers to install charging stations, a tax reduction
for individuals and an increased deduction for companies were introduced.
Private individuals who installed a charging station for electric cars installed
between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2024, in or near the home where they live
on 1 January of the tax year, will receive a tax reduction. The reduction
gradually decreases:
investment between 1/9/2021 and 31/12/2022: 45%
investment between 1/1/2023 and 31/12/2023: 30%, and
investment between 1/1/2024 and 31/8/2024: 15%.
The tax reduction amounts to a maximum of 1.500 euro per charging station and
per taxpayer.
Companies that invest in a charging station between 1 September 2021 and 31
August 2024 can count on an increased cost deduction. For investments from 1
September 2021 to 31 December 2022, a deduction percentage of 200% applies for
depreciation. For investments in the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 August
2024, this amounts to 150%.
However, there are two important conditions: the charging station must be
publicly accessible and the investment must be depreciated on a straight-line
basis over at least 5 years.
Carbon-free truck
A company that purchases a carbon-emission-free truck in new condition, or that
has a hydrogen refueling infrastructure or an electric charging station
installed, is entitled to an increased investment deduction.
The percentage of the investment deduction is:
35,0%, in 2022 and 2023
29,5%, in 2024
24,0%, by 2025
18,5%, in 2026, and
13,5%, in 2027.
To compensate for this measure in the budget, the transport companies will lose
part of their exemption from special excise duties on professional diesel. For
certain types of diesel, these companies benefit from an excise duties exemption
of EUR 247,6158 per 1.000 litres. This benefit is gradually reduced.
Mobility budget
The mobility budget has been around since 2019, but is still only used to a
limited extent. In short, the measure allows employees provided their employer
agrees to exchange their company car for an annual budget that can be used for
mobility expenses. The mobility budget can initially be used for the purchase of
another, more environmentally friendly company car (so-called pillar 1).
Secondly, the budget can be used for the deployment of sustainable means of
transport (pillar 2). The expenditure in pillar 2 is exempt from social security
contributions and taxes. If there is still a budget left after these 2 pillars,
the balance can be paid out in cash.
As from 1 January 2022, the spending options within pillar 2 have been expanded:
employees can now also use their budget for, for example, electric scooters,
bicycle loans and parking costs associated with public transport.
In addition, the amount of the mobility budget must be within a certain range:
the budget must be at least 3.000 euro, and maximum one fifth of the total gross
salary, with an absolute maximum of 16.000 euro per calendar year. This fork
applies to all new mobility budgets. For mobility budgets allocated before 3
December 2021, the range will only be applied from 1 January 2023.