the belgian state is traditionally a master in inventing taxes and at the same time finding exceptions for the lobbies and the rich and the poor to pay less taxes – ahummmm
it would be much better to pay less taxes and have less exceptions – but that’s another question 😉
needless to say that we the belgians are champion in trying to avoid those taxes !! it is a national sport
multi billion € jackpot
today cars are heavily taxed – that is to say not the car itself but the driving – a tank filled with 100€ gas or diesel brings up quickly around 70€ vat and excise duties to the state – a total of more than 5.5 billion € per annum or around 1000€/car/year – money that is unfortunatley not always invested in better roads…
it s in the interest of the state that this hydrocarbon jackpot is going on for ever and ever – to pay for the generous pensions of the civil servants – and even more with the so-called ‘urgent’ change from diesel to gas due to environmental pressure – which seems to be a hoax
with the fragile rise of the electric cars – and better and better batteries and thus radius – the state needs to tackle a big problem
electric cars are better for the environment – at least when you consider that the electricity is not coming from nuclear plants and that car owners will produce their own energy – e.g. with efficient solar panels and a large (tesla ?) home battery
and driving electric is cheap : 1€ for 100kms – against 10€/100kms with traditional cars
the state s sink hole
it is the environmentalists wet dream that all cars will drive electric in the next 10 years… it s really not impossible – the technology exists today ! but do you hear that from the government ? no… and why ?
replacing all 5.5 million hydrocarbon cars with electric cars in belgium would create an enormous sink hole in the state s treasury
a prosperous time is coming for toll collecting companies – everything is already in place and working for trucks – the next step is smaller private cars – probably somewhere after the 2019 elections ?? frankly : belgium needs that money – not only for it s bad roads but also to pay for your and my pension