‘Greening’ of the Belgian car tax policy - Belgium

Last summer, we announced the government’s intention to bring in new changes to the existing car tax policy, and to introduce, among other measures, an increased deduction for professional expenses for publicly accessible charging stations and a new investment deduction encouraging investments in zero-carbon trucks, hydrogen refuelling infrastructures and electric charging stations.

The government has put its money where its mouth is – by passing through parliamentthe law of November 25, 2021, by which the aforementioned tax measures were formally introduced.

Increased expense deduction for electric cars’ charging stations

Companies investing in new electric cars’ charging stations, between September 1^st, 2021 and August 31^st, 2024, will be able to benefit from an increased deduction for professional expenses, at the following rates:

Period of investment	Applicable rate
From September 1st, 2021 until December 31^st, 2022	200%
From January 1st, 2023 until August 31^st, 2024	150%

In order to be eligible for the measure, the charging stations must be depreciated on a linear (“straight line”) basis over at least five years.

In addition, the charging stations must be “accessible to the public” during either the usual opening or closing hours of the company. The charging stations must also be digitally connected to a management system, the connection of which is freely available to the users, indicating the charging time as well as the charging capacity of the charging station.

New ‘green’ investment deduction

Another measure that was introduced is an entirely new investment deduction for companies that invest in:

* Zero-carbon trucks;
* Charging infrastructures for blue, green or turquoise hydrogen; and
* Electric charging infrastructures for zero-carbon trucks.

It should be noted that the investment deduction for electric charging infrastructure cannot be combined with the increased expense deduction for “publicly accessible” charging stations (see above).

The deduction, which is applied on top of the normal deduction of annual depreciation, is calculated as a percentage of the acquisition value, and will gradually decrease over time, as demonstrated in the table below.

Investment year	Applicable rate
2022 ou 2023	35%
2024	29,5%
2025	24%
2026	18,5%

The total deduction that one company can claim is capped at 60 million euros.

Last but not least, the law excludes certain companies from benefiting from the new investment deduction, namely:

Companies with arrears of debt to the National Social Security Office;
Companies ‘in difficulty’ according to insolvency law;
Companies that have been subject to a recovery order following a Commission decision declaring aid granted by Belgium illegal and incompatible with the internal market; and
Companies that have applied for regional aid for the same investment, unless the regional aid’s scheme ensures that the combination of federal and regional aids does not result in the maximum aid intensity (as referred to in EU law) being exceeded.

Keeping abreast of new tax opportunities is part of Leyton’s mission, which is why we keep ourselves informed. If you have any question relating to this subject or other tax measures in the field of research, development and innovation, Leyton will be happy to answer your questions and/or advise you in a well-considered manner tailored to your situation.