Newsflash: Amount mileage allowance has increased

A royal decree dated from 10 November 2022 provides for a quarterly indexation of the mileage allowance as from 1 October 2022. As from 1 October 2022, the maximum amount of the fixed mileage allowance will be EUR 0.4201 per kilometer.

The same royal decree also provided for the retroactive increase in the mileage allowance to EUR 0.4020 EUR /km for the period from 1 March to 30 June 2022.

In summary, the mileage allowance for the use of one's personal vehicle in 2022 is:

This fixed amount can be granted to an employee who uses his own vehicle (car, motorcycle or moped) to travel on behalf of his employer or for the home-work travel. For tax purposes, travel between the place of residence and the fixed place of work cannot be considered as a professional travel and hence cannot be regarded as "travel on behalf of the employer".

From a tax perspective, this mileage allowance is considered as a non-taxable reimbursement of costs proper to the employer for professional travel. However, for a home-work travel, this mileage allowance is exempted from taxes up to an amount of EUR 430 per year (amount for income year 2022). The balance is taxable income which is taxed against the progressive tax rates, such as normal remuneration.

From a social security perspective, this payment by the employer is not regarded as remuneration since it is a cost that is at charge of the employer. Therefore, it is exempted from social security contributions, both for professional travel and home-work travel. In principle the National Social Security Office takes into account the same amounts as those provided by tax legislation.

The new amount applies since 1 October 2022 until 31 December 2022.

Action point

When granting a mileage allowance, you can take into account, since 1 October 2022, the new amount foreseen as mileage allowance: EUR 0.4201 per kilometer.