The introduction of an annual road tax for new electric cars is being delayed. Working out a formula to calculate the new tax and consulting with other Belgian regions is taking longer than planned. The tax was scheduled to come in on 1 January. Daily Het Laatste Nieuws broke the news that Flemish finance minister Ben Weyts (Flemish nationalist/N-VA) has now confirmed.
Vehicles that run entirely on electricity or hydrogen are currently exempt from road tax as well as the tax on entry into service. The exemption was supposed to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles. But because more and more electric cars are now to be found on Flemish roads, the Flemish government is seeing a large part of its revenue from these taxes disappear.
The new Flemish government recently decided that owners of new electric cars would have to pay the two taxes after all.
Lack of clarity at the moment
Electric vehicle (EV) road tax was supposed to have been introduced on 1 January, but it is now being postponed. Working out a formula to calculate the new tax and consulting with other Belgian regions are taking more time than first expected.
‘A large proportion of electric cars on Flemish roads are lease vehicles. A tax on such vehicles requires an agreement with the Brussels and Walloon Regions,‘ Mr Weyts’s spokesman noted. ‘Talks have started but have not yet yielded results.’
Electric cars will still enjoy preferential treatment, but to what extent power, weight, list price, consumption or any combination of these factors will be taken into account to calculate the tax is not yet known.
A hole in next year's budget
Mr Weyts does not want to be tied down by a new date. It is even unclear whether the tax will be introduced in 2025. However, the Flemish government was counting on 25 million euros in revenue from this tax next year.
‘If the introduction of the new tax takes a long time, we will have to see how we will compensate this in next year’s budget,’ the minister's spokesman says.