The fixed mileage allowance from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023
Traditionally, it is announced around 1 July what the amount of the mileage
allowance will be for federal civil servants who carry out a trip for the
government with their own car. This is important for businesses, accountants and
tax advisers, because that amount also has tax relevance.
With your own vehicle
If you, as an employer, send your employee on the road with his own car to
arrange things for work, then it is logical that you pay a fee for the costs
incurred. Strictly speaking, the employee must prove those costs. But for
practical reasons, the tax authorities accept that you reimburse these costs at
a fixed rate.
The compensation may not exceed a certain maximum. And that maximum is equal to
the flat-rate mileage allowance that federal officials receive for the use of
their personal motor vehicle for work purposes.
For the period from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, that maximum is 0,417 euros/km.
Compared to 0,3707 euros/km in the previous year.
But there is more: as a measure against the sharply rising fuel prices in the
first quarter of 2022, the minister has decided that the mileage allowance for
the period from March 2022 to June 2022 will be increased once and retroactively
to 0,402 euros/km.
Attention: movements made by an employee between his home and his permanent
place of employment are not movements for the benefit of the employer! Those
trips are therefore not eligible and if you as an employer pay a compensation,
that part of the compensation in principle qualifies as wages (although various
exemptions are possible).
Maximum 24.000 km
With regard to trips on behalf of the employer, the tax authorities accept that
you determine the compensation at a fixed rate as long as the total distance
covered remains below 24.000 km. Above 24.000 km, the tax authorities will no
longer accept the lump sum calculation and therefore proof must still be put on
the table.
The amount of 0,4170 euros/km is also just a lump sum. If the employee can
demonstrate a higher cost, you may grant a higher compensation, but always
subject to the necessary evidence.
Note that this regulation also applies to social security purposes. In
principle, all allowances that you pay to the employee are considered wages, but
costs that are proper to the employer are deducted from the wages and you can
use the same lump-sum amount as the tax authorities for travel expenses.
Can you, as an employer, deduct this allowance?
Until tax year 2020, fuel costs on the one hand and all other car costs on the
other were treated differently for corporate tax. For this reason, the lump-sum
allowance for the calculation of the cost deduction was split into a part for
the fuel and a part for the other costs (such as the depreciation of the vehicle
and maintenance).
However, due to a radical change in the deductibility of car expenses from 1
January 2020 (assessment year 2021), this division is no longer necessary. After
all, as from assessment year 2021, all car expenses are deductible on the basis
of the following formula:
120% - (0.5 x coefficient x CO2 emissions (in
gr/km) )
The coefficient is
'1' for diesel cars;
'0.90' for natural gas vehicles (with a power of less than 12 fiscal
horsepower); and
'0.95' for cars with a different engine (petrol, electric, LPG, etc.).
The deduction calculated using this formula may not be higher than 100% and not
lower than 50% (or 40% if the car emits more than 200 gr/km CO2).
The
distinction between fuel costs and other costs is therefore no longer
relevant.
Volunteers
Apart from the above, the mileage allowance for federal civil servants is also
used for another lump-sum calculation. Namely for the volunteer allowances.
The status of the volunteer does not allow payment for services rendered. Only
an expense allowance is allowed. In addition to the general maximums per month
and per year, there is a separate limit for travel allowances. That limit is
2.000 km per year per volunteer (although there is no limit for volunteers whose
activity is the regular transport of people). In this case, too, the allowance
may not exceed the mileage allowance for federal civil servants.
Annual adjustment under scrutiny?
The minister recently announced that the annual adjustment of the mileage
allowance will disappear. It will be replaced by a quarterly indexation. The
initiative is commendable, since it will bring the lump sum payment closer to
the actual cost price.
On the other hand, it is a double-edged sword, if over time fuel prices
normalize again, the compensation will also decrease faster.
Moreover, this means that the payroll office has to adjust the figures every
quarter: the employee knows less and less what he or she will receive at the end
of the month and the employer is less and less sure of the actual cost price of
his staff.
Every coin has two sides