Sales of service cheques that many Flemings and expats use to pay for services from cleaners and oddjobbers have shot through the roof in recent months. Many people are stocking up before the price goes up on 1 January. Since the Flemish government announced the price hike, almost 4 million extra service cheques have already been sold.
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Flemings rush to snap up service cheques to beat 1 January price hike
Colin Clapson
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From next year, a service cheque will cost 10 euros instead of 9 euros. The tax benefit, worth 1.8 euros per cheque, will also disappear. So in practice, a cheque will cost almost 3 euros more from 1 January, an increase of about 40 per cent.
Service cheques are valid for one year. Many Flemings are now buying stocks of the cheques at the old rate to use next year.
More than 9 million sold
Since the Flemish government announced the price hike at the end of September, the number of cheques sold increased by a quarter compared to the same period last year. That works out at 3.7 million extra service cheques.
Both October and November saw more than 9 million cheques change hands. That figure is only expected to grow in December.
People who still want to buy cheques should bear in mind that anyone buying more than 400 will already have to pay 10 euros instead of 9 euros per cheque. Buy over 198 cheques and you also lose the tax benefit on the additional cheques.