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.