The VAT on energy has been set at 6% to support households. When it was taken, this measure had been announced as temporary. It is due to end on March 31. What will happen after this date? How to avoid going back to 21% VAT while allowing the finances of the State to bear the cost of this measure? This is the question that has occupied the federal government for many months. She pushed the previous Secretary of State for the Budget, Eva de Bleecker (CD&V) out.
The estimated cost of 6% VAT for the state budget in 2023 is 1.3 billion euros. The Minister of Finance has been tasked with proposing solutions. His proposal passed the ramp of the restricted council of ministers, the kern.
VAT on electricity and gas will remain at 6%, but on the proposal of Minister Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V), excise duty will be introduced on these products. They will partly compensate for the loss of tax revenue that such a reduction in VAT has for public finances. Excise duties have the advantage of being fixed, unlike VAT; they would not increase in the event of another explosion in energy prices.
In concrete terms, the new system, 6% VAT and excise duties, will come into force on 1 April.
In the event that prices on the wholesale markets rise and go back, by April 1, above 100 euros/MWh for gas (according to the TTF index) and/or 250 euros/MWh for electricity (according to the Endex index), the terms of this reform would then be reassessed to protect the effect of these prices for consumers.
Previously, the office of the Minister of Finance had made its calculations: the excise reform would represent an increase in the energy bill of around twenty euros per month for an average household. Enough to recover more than 500 million euros for the federal budget.