On Wednesday, Federal Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem told a House committee that the planned "airline tax" will indeed concern all passenger and private flights, confirming information published in the press in early January.
This tax, which was announced at the end of the budget conclave in October 2021, was initially intended to concern transit flights from Belgian airports of less than 500 km to encourage alternatives such as the train, for example.
Questioned in Parliament on Wednesday, Van Peteghem confirmed that the proposal for the tax now also concerns long-distance flights, and will be included in the draft bill currently being prepared for a "mini tax shift."
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Its stated aim is to reduce taxation on labour, and the draft is currently being debated within the government and has yet to be submitted to the Council of State for an opinion. Van Peteghem said that the text should come into force in April.
For airline tickets, the proposal contains a tax ranging from €2 to €10. The "mini tax shift" will be presented to the House Finance Committee as soon as it is approved by the government, Van Peteghem added.
