Belgian Minister of Budget, Vincent Van Peteghem, has stated that there can be “no taboos” when discussing how the federal government should fund the significantly increased defence budget, including the possibility of a defence tax.
The federal government has decided to raise defence spending to 2% of the gross domestic product starting this year, which means an additional €4 billion by 2025.
In an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, Vooruit party leader Conner Rousseau indicated that the socialists are open to a defence tax, a sentiment previously echoed by Les Engagés Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prévot, who mentioned new taxes out of “intellectual honesty.” However, CD&V leader Sammy Mahdi strongly opposed this idea, urging to “stop inventing taxes.”
Vincent Van Peteghem addressed these ideas during a parliamentary finance committee meeting, where he reiterated his stance of not ruling anything out. He emphasised that he would first like to see the results of government-decided reforms before considering any “new initiatives,” including taxes.
Van Peteghem also stressed that for any additional efforts, the allocation rules from the coalition agreement must apply. According to these rules, structural reforms should account for two-thirds of the total effort by the end of the legislative term. The remaining efforts would come two-thirds from savings and a maximum of one-third from contributions by the wealthiest and various income sources.
