The Federal Government is raising the bicycle allowance for those commuting to work by bicycle to €0.35 per kilometre, starting from the fiscal year 2025.
The move was taken at the Council of Ministers on Friday and was announced by Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V) and Social Affairs Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit).
The bicycle allowance is currently €0.27 euro per kilometre. Besides the increased amount, there will also be an annual ceiling for tax exemption of €2,500 per year. That corresponds to 7,142 cycled kilometres, or a commute of 17 kilometres if an employee cycles to and from work 210 days a year, the government calculated.
According to figures from HR service provider SD Worx, dating from April, almost one in three Belgian employers made a bicycle allowance available to their employees last year.
Five years ago, only half did. The proportion of employees with a bicycle allowance doubled in five years from 7% in 2017 to 14% in 2022.
Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) responds with satisfaction. "More cyclists on the way to work means fewer traffic jams, more fit workers and fewer CO2 emissions. This measure is good for our economy, for general well-being, for the climate and, above all, for workers’ wallets."
