It'snot often that a minister joins our podcast's table, but recently we had the honor of hosting Vincent Van Peteghem in Kilowattuur's studio. This is what he had to say!
As Minister of Finance, Vincent Van Peteghem faces a leaden task. On the one hand, together with Secretary of State Alexia Bertrand, he must ensure that the budget is balanced; on the other, he wants to ensure that savings or taxes do not hit anyone too hard. The minister, who shares an academic past with Joule founder Laurens, is one of the few politicians in Brussels who commutes by bike. So the ideal guest for our podcast!
Mobility budget for all
In Kilowattuur, Van Peteghem outed himself as a big fan of the bicycle as a means of transportation, but also questioned the tax benefit for company bicycles. In fact, bicycle leasing is exempt from VAA, provided the bicycle is used for commuting. 'It is a good thing that it exists, because it makes people move more and leave the car. Yet we must be honest and recognize that our tax system is full of coteries and exceptions. 'Almost every means of transport has its own tax scheme,' he said. As minister, he wants to do away with that.
If we want to reduce the burden on labor, it sounds, we must recognize that those coteries are not sacred cottages. 'Actually, a tax system serves to levy and collect taxes in an efficient and equitable manner. Now a cat cannot find its young in everything available, even if each measure individually is a good one. You create choice stress, making the fiscal system inefficient.'
What Van Peteghem does believe in is a mobility budget for everyone, rather than for those who meet certain pay scales. Pieter Nobels, the Director of Reward Services at PWC who was an earlier guest in our podcast, was also a fan of this. "We have a proposal to open up that mobility budget to everyone," the minister said, "which of course also means that we will have to rethink everything. It reverses the logic: everyone will then be able to choose depending on their own needs.'
Apart from the financial aspect, Van Peteghem sees another important role for players such as Joule: "I remain convinced that the relief of the employee will always be a role that the employer will take up. A bicycle is offered and, apart from the tax benefit, employees also find that important.
A higher bicycle allowance
One of the changes Van Peteghem made was the renewed bicycle allowance, which was framed within the new bicycle plan. From now on, it is at 0.35 euros per kilometer and the annual ceiling also increased from 2,500 euros to 3,500 euros. 'We see that thanks to speed pedelecs, people are coming to work from further and more often by bike. If you want to get people on their bikes, it takes a lot. 'That bike allowance, we find in surveys, is one of the important elements.'
Infrastructure must also be in order, says the minister. "I live in De Pinte, and the bicycle highways there are incredibly used. Those are things that are important to get people on bikes. Creating an incentive for that is always a plus. It's healthier and there are fewer cars on the road.'
Watch the full interview with Minister Vincent Van Peteghem here:
