The company’s green cars take the first hurdle in the room | interior

Last spring, the federal government reached an agreement to speed up the greening of the company’s vehicle fleet. It does this by eliminating the tax benefit on fossil fuel company cars effective January 1, 2026. In previous years, the tax credit was already limited. Company zero-emissions vehicles purchased, leased or leased before January 1, 2027 remain fully tax-deductible. For CO2-free company cars purchased thereafter, the tax deduction will be gradually restricted to 67.5 percent in 2031.

The bill from Finance Minister Vincent van Bettieghem was given the go-ahead in a House committee this afternoon. This happened on second reading, after many questions were raised about the cost of the procedure last month. The CD&V deputy prime minister has now reiterated that greening the company’s cars can be budgeted impartially. According to him, this is possible because the costs are covered by money from the European Recovery Fund and from the higher excise tax on professional diesel that the government wants to provide.

The numbers couldn’t convince N-VA, Vlaams Belang, and PVDA. Member of Parliament Joy Donne (N-VA) also confirmed that the public finance assessment, which was only planned for April 30, 2026, could have been done earlier. The three opposition parties voted against the project, and the majority voted for it.

Mobility budget relief was immediately approved via the amendments. Two years after launch, barely 0.15 percent of salaried car employees use their commuting budget to switch to a greener transportation solution.

To increase this number, there will be an expansion of “sustainable patterns” that can be funded from the mobility budget. For example, they will soon also include parking costs for employees who take the car first to drive to the train station or bus station. The infantry premium has also been added to the list.

In addition, the room eliminates waiting time. Now employers must first provide a car with at least a salary for at least 36 months before they can provide the commuting budget. This waiting period is now cancelled.

Finally, the range within which employees can include housing costs in the commuting budget will be increased. Now anyone who lives five kilometers from his place of work or place of work can use it. That would now be ten kilometres.

According to Van den Berg, these measures will give the mobility budget the necessary boost. “Employees will be more thoughtful about their mobility, resulting in more sustainable mobility. It is a win-win situation”