Company cars in Belgium: Yes or No?

With the Belgian general elections taking place in less than two weeks, it is worth wondering to what extent a business car is relevant today.

What do you think about having a business car? Maybe you yourself have one. Does it seem relevant/necessary/needed/responsible?

This debate has been taking place over many years in Belgium, as providing employees with business cars constitutes one way of ‘paying’ them. It is, however, a sensitive issue.

For those who have such a car, it’s almost impossible to even consider whether it is something worth keeping. Those who do not benefit from having a business car, on the other hand, are likely to have different opinions. Indeed, some think it might be useful to reform the tax system, to stop incentivising employers offering business cars to their employees.

This is therefore an economic debate. But it is also a debate about the future of our society. Everyone agrees on the need to have cleaner air in Brussels, and to decrease pollution. But by providing employees with a business car, employers are surely participating in making Brussels a dirtier and more congested city.

If, however, more pedestrian areas were designed and implemented, there would be fewer and fewer reasons to drive as frequently as many Brussels residents do now.

New mobility solutions (such as public transportation, bikes, scooters etc.) have also appeared over the last few years, and they also question our current driving-intensive way of life.

In short: business cars, yes or no?