The number of pickup trucks in Belgium is increasing year after year, and a recent study reveals that one reason could be the favourable tax regime for the often environmentally-unfriendly vehicles.
If a Dodge Ram were taxed like a normal car, its owners would have to pay €11,557 in registration fees and €3,201 in annual road tax, De Morgen reports.
But thanks to the favourable tax regime for 'light trucks', the registration costs are dropped completely and the annual road tax is a mere €157 euros.
The reason pickup trucks enjoy such a favourable regime is that they are considered by law to be light commercial vehicles used for commercial purposes; but in reality, two-thirds of pick-up trucks are registered as private vehicles. Nevertheless, they can still benefit from all the tax advantages.
Tax-breaks for polluting vehicles
Researchers with HIVA, the research institute for Labour and Society at KU Leuven, determined that the driver of a pick-up pays on average one eighth of the taxes that they would have to pay for a regular car.
This is despite the fact that a heavy pick-up like a Dodge Ram emits two to three times as much pollution as a passenger car, and studies show that pick-ups are 2.5 times more involved in fatal accidents than regular cars.
Plus, since trucks are a lot bigger than normal cars, they often take up more than one parking space in Belgium, where road infrastructure is more often designed for smaller, lighter vehicles.
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“It is absurd that the most polluting cars are taxed the least,” said Marie Desrousseaux of the Bond Beter Leefmilieu (BBL), the umbrella organisation of numerous environmental movements.
Desrousseaux argues that tax breaks should only be granted to owners who use a pick-up for work, and that ones for private or personal use should be taxed as normal cars.
She also says a tighter definition of 'light commercial vehicles' is needed – one that specifies that only pick-ups without a double row of seats and with sufficient storage space would fall under the category.
More trucks on Belgian roads
In 2021, there were about 65,000 pickup trucks, an increase of 63% compared to ten years ago.
Per 100,000 inhabitants, 41.3 pickups were registered in Belgium in 2020. In comparison, there are only 3 pickups per 100,000 inhabitants in the Netherlands and 16.1 in France.
If current trends continue, by 2030 there will be more than 100,000 heavy pickups on the road in Belgium.
Steeds meer zware pick-up trucks op onze wegen. Ze zijn zwaar, vuil, vaker betrokken bij ongevallen, maar fiscaal zeer interessant.@groen wil net als @BeterLeefmilieu dat @MDiependaele zijn belofte uit 2020 waarmaakt. Geen gunstregime voor pick-ups.https://t.co/mwaeOwPjJe
— Stijn Bex (@Bex_Stijn) April 21, 2022
In 2020, Flemish Finance Minister Matthias Diependaele (N-VA) promised to put an end to the abuse of the regime by limiting the tax benefit to those who need their truck for professional reasons. All owners of a pick-up truck not intended for work would then have to pay the normal tax rates.
But so far, nothing has changed.
“We were very much in favour of this proposal,” said Flemish MP Stijn Bex (Groen).
“Unfortunately, we have to conclude that it has not yet been converted into policy. We see that heavier cars are still growing in popularity, and the government is doing little to discourage that.”
