A 38-year-old Belgian man from Namur sat down on Friday evening with a calculator, a beer, and his car's paperwork, intending to determine exactly how much he pays in taxes on a vehicle he already owns to drive on roads he already finances. He was found four hours later in the same chair, staring at the wall. The beer was untouched. The calculator was on the floor.
The exercise began after the government's announcement that a new road vignette of at least €90 per year would be introduced in May 2027. “I thought, fine, one more tax,” he told The Brussels Monitor. “Then I thought: one more on top of how many?”
He started with the purchase. “I paid 21% TVA when I bought the car,” he said. “That is a tax for buying it. Fine. Then I paid the taxe de mise en circulation to register it. That is a tax for being allowed to start owning it. Then, every year, I pay the taxe de circulation. That is a tax for continuing to own it. Then, every time I drive it, I fill the tank, and roughly half of what I pay at the pump is accises. That is a tax for using it.”
He paused. “So I have paid a tax to buy it, a tax to register it, a tax to own it, and a tax every time I move it. And now there is a fifth tax, the vignette, which is a tax for driving it on the roads that the other four taxes were supposed to be paying for.”
He looked at his notes. “I am running out of verbs,” he said. “I have been taxed to buy, to register, to own, to fuel, and now to drive. The only thing left is parking, and in my commune that also costs money. If they introduce a tax for looking at the car I will not be surprised.”
He attempted to calculate the annual total. The TVA was a one-time cost. The TMC was a one-time cost. The TC runs to approximately €350 for his vehicle. The accises, based on his commute, amount to roughly €800 per year. The vignette will add at least €90. He stared at the figure.
“Over a thousand euros a year in taxes,” he said, “to drive a Peugeot 308 on the E411, which has been under construction since I was born.”
MR president Georges-Louis Bouchez has stated that the vignette will be fiscally neutral. The man was informed of this. “Fiscally neutral for whom?” he asked. He then asked what “fiscally neutral” means. He was told it means he will not pay more overall. He gestured at the calculator on the floor and said: “I invite him to come to Namur and show me.”
At time of publication, the man has not moved from the chair. The beer remains untouched. He says he is “waiting for the next tax before opening it, because there will be one, and I would rather process them in batches.”