Company car: reference CO2 emissions 2020

If you make a company car available to your employees, a taxable benefit in kind arises when they use this car for private purposes. One of the elements to calculate the taxable benefit for the 2020 income year, the reference CO2 emission, has been published.

Flat-rate estimation of the benefit

The benefit in kind for making a company car available is calculated as follows:

(List price x degressive coefficient) x 6/7 x CO2 percentage

Reference CO2 emission determines CO2 percentage

In order to determine the CO2 percentage, the CO2 emission content of the car is compared with a reference CO2 emission.  In 2020, these reference CO2 emissions will amount to:

• 111 g/km for cars equipped with petrol, LPG or NG engines;
• 91 g/km for cars equipped with diesel engines.

The base CO2 percentage is 5.5 % for the above reference CO2 emissions. If the emissions of the car concerned are higher/lower than the reference CO2 emissions, the base percentage is increased/reduced by 0.1 % per CO2 gram. The CO2 percentage must be at least 4%. The maximum CO2 percentage amounts to 18%.

An increase in reference CO2 emissions

For the income year 2019, the following reference CO2 emissions will apply:

• 107 g/km for cars equipped with petrol, LPG or NG engines;
• 88 g/km for cars equipped with diesel engines.

For the second year in a row, reference CO2 emissions are increasing. This results in a decrease of the CO2 percentage and consequently also in a decrease of the taxable benefit in kind.

Example:

The employee has a company car with a diesel engine which he may use for private purposes. The CO2 emission of the car is 91 g/km.

The reference CO2 emission for company cars equipped with diesel engines is 91 g/km for 2020. Therefore, the CO2 percentage for 2020 is 5.5 % (= 5.5% + [(91 – 91) x 0.1]%). In 2019 the CO2 percentage is 5.8 % (= 5.5% + [(91 – 88) x 0.1]%).

Source: Royal Decree of 3 December 2019 amending the Royal Decree for the implementation of the 'Code des impôts sur les revenus 1992' with regard to the section of the benefits in kind in the event of free private use of a company car, Belgian Official Gazette of 11 December 2019.