Owners of company cars in Belgium will be significantly higher taxed in 2021, De Tijd reports on Wednesday.
Anyone with a company car that they can use for private or commuting purposes gets taxed on that benefit on a flat-rate basis, and drops in emissions of new cars are causing the taxable benefit to spike.
The tax is calculated based on the CO2 coefficient (the difference in emissions between the company car and the average emissions of newly registered cars) and on the catalogue value of the car.
As the average emissions of new cars have dropped considerably, that CO2 coefficient is affected.
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“Because manufacturers have to meet strict CO2 standards, this year they introduced models to the market with technical innovations that lead to lower CO2 emissions,” explained Frank Van Gool of car rental federation Renta.
“This also leads to a small revival of the diesel engine, which scores better in CO2 emissions than a comparable petrol,” he said.
Big leaps forward in sales of hybrid vehicles (which are now fiscally very attractive) and all-electric cars are also driving up the CO2 coefficient and, therefore, the tax.
One more factor that influences the tax is the age of the car, as the catalogue value drops by 6% for every year after the first registration of the car, though it can only drop down to 70% of the original value.
Jason Spinks
The Brussels Times
