Given the sharp increase in fuel prices, the UPTR is sounding the alarm and urging the various governments to take measures to support carriers, in particular by (temporarily?) increasing the reimbursement of excise duties on diesel.
At federal level, the UPTR proposes two measures to be implemented immediately: to reimburse carriers for the part of excise duties that have not been reimbursed to them since January 2022 for professional diesel (which amounts to €56.32/1000 liters), as well as the difference between the Belgian excise duty rate and the European minimum threshold, namely €22.54/1000 additional liters. The professional federation also proposes to extend the scheme for professional diesel to at least commercial vehicles of more than 3.5 tonnes that pay kilometer tax.
Other old requests are also on the table again, such as the exemption from social security contributions and withholding tax on availability and waiting times and on night premiums for personnel of transport and logistics companies. And while we are at it, the UPTR asks that certain existing regulations are actually applied: this applies, for example, to Article 43 of the law of 15 July 2013, which should make it possible to sanction clients who abuse their dominant position to ‘offer’ carriers to drive at ‘unreasonably low prices’, but which is not applied in practice.
The UPTR also asks regional officials to postpone the planned increases in the kilometer charge (indexation in Wallonia and introduction of a CO2 component in Flanders).
