The economist Philippe Defeyt told La Libre that “some 409,000 workers” will miss out on the benefits of Belgium's upcoming tax reform, as it does not account for part-time work.
Defeyt stated that Belgium’s "obsession" with full-time work has led them to ignore the 25% of Belgian employees that work part-time, with the group set to miss out on the tax reform’s flagpole measure.
Under the reform, Belgian Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem will increase the minimum annual wage required to be exempt from tax. Currently set at €10,160 per year, the amount will rise to €13,500 from 2024 onward.
However, according to the economist’s estimates, this change will not be felt by the over 400,000 workers in Belgium who are employed part-time. Putting it bluntly, the economist explained that “to benefit from the non-taxable portion, you have to pay tax,” – and part-time workers in Belgium currently do not pay any.
Defeyt calculated that these part-time employees, which represent a quarter of Belgium’s whole workforce, mostly earn less than €1,750 per month, falling under the minimum wage of €1,954.99.
This has also led the economist to call for a change in Belgian mentalities – “especially in Flanders” – concerning part-time work. “All of the documents on the tax reform never mention part-time work, it's astonishing.” he added.
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Defeyt also stated that the government’s current objective of reaching an employment rate of 80% by 2030 is unrealistic "if we don't make efforts to support part-time employees by offering appropriate services" such as discounts on public transport and childcare.
These factors have also led the economist to start pushing for a change in how income is taxed. He argued that the tax authorities should start taking monthly, instead of yearly, incomes into account.
"Gross annual income would then be equal to the sum of monthly salaries, double holiday pay and the year-end pay bonus would be divided by 12; with such a monthly system," Defeyt explained. "This should make it easier to activate the full benefits of increasing the non-taxable portion," he concluded.
