Belgium announced temporary tax relief measures due to war in Ukraine
As the post-COVID-19 economic recovery and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are causing energy prices to spike, Belgian’s government announced that it will implement a new range of measures to face the energy crisis. The measures include:
- a 6 % VAT rate on electricity until Sept. 30
- a 6 % VAT rate on natural gas from April 1 to Sept. 30
- an extension of the social gas or electricity tariff until Sept. 30
- a temporary reduction in special excise taxes on petrol and diesel
- the introduction of a temporary unemployment system from April 1 to June 30 to help companies affected by the war; and
- the introduction of a single automatic reduction of 200 euros (US$220) on bills for all households that heat with fuel oil, propane, or butane
The package involves a release of a 1.33 billion EUR budget to temper the increase in energy bills, of which 1.08 billion is financed by additional tax revenues garnered by the increase in energy prices. This is a second budget injection by the Belgian government. The first injection involved a 1.1. billion EUR budget released in February.
In addition to releasing the above-mentioned measures, Belgium continues to press Europe to develop a structural approach to rising energy prices. At the informal European summit in Versailles on the 10th and 11th of March 2022, the European Commission was commended by Belgium with the task of formulating concrete proposals to bring down current energy prices for households and businesses. And to ensure the supply and accessibility of energy at an affordable price for the winter of 2023, taking into account the break with Russian energy markets.
Source: premier.be
