In brief
The Belgian federal government has reached an agreement on temporary and automatically expiring energy support measures aimed at mitigating the impact of rising energy prices. The measures will apply for a limited period of three months (April, May and June 2026).
While primarily socio‑economic in nature, the agreement includes several measures that are directly relevant for employers, in particular regarding commuting allowances, reimbursements for professional travel, and telework policies. The proposed measures still need to be translated into binding legislative texts.
Temporary tax incentive for increasing commuting allowances
One of the key employment related measures concerns a temporary tax incentive designed to encourage employers to increase commuting allowances for home to work travel.
Under this measure, employers may benefit from a tax credit in respect of increases to a commuting allowance of up to 20%, subject to a cap of EUR 0.10 per kilometer.
The incentive will however be entirely optional: employers remain free to decide whether or not to increase the allowance.
The tax credit does not apply to fuel cards.
Temporary adjustment of the lump-sum kilometer allowance for professional travel
The energy agreement also provides for a temporary adjustment of the maximum lump sum kilometer allowance for employees who use their private vehicle for professional purposes, such as home nurses or employees who are required travel frequently in the course of their duties.
For the period April to June 2026, the calculation method will be temporarily adapted to better reflect current fuel prices, rather than prices from previous quarters. While the current maximum tax exempt allowance amounts to EUR 0.4327 per kilometer, the exact increased amount applicable for the second quarter of 2026 is yet to be confirmed.
Renewed encouragement of telework
Finally, as part of the broader policy objective to curb energy consumption and reduce fuel use, the federal government announced a renewed encouragement of telework, particularly within the public sector.
No new obligations are introduced for private sector employers. Nevertheless, telework is once again explicitly promoted as an effective tool for cost mitigation and sustainability. Employers who want to enhance/reimplement telework should verify their (current) contractual and policy framework to ensure it accurately captures the envisaged teleworking mechanism they want to implement and complies with the applicable legal requirements.