2023-12-28 17:31:00
Up to a few dozen euros more per month: this is what a whole series of beneficiaries of indexations or revaluations planned from Monday should receive.
Indexed salaries
For more than a million workers, the start of a new year coincides with automatic indexation. Employees of the joint commission 200 (CP 200) will thus be increased by 1.48% in January. This is out of proportion with the indexation of January 1, 2023 which amounted to 11.08%, a historic record due to high inflation.
The CP 200, the largest in the country, brings together around thirty sectors such as the automobile trade, the concrete industry, construction companies, garages, wholesale trade and even temporary employment agencies.
In the food trade and property management sector, the same salary indexation will be applied. International trade employees will benefit from an indexation of 1.13% and insurance companies of 1.1325%.
Revalued pensions
Some pensioners will also be able to take a breather. The minimum pension will increase by 2.08% from January 1, the office of Pensions Minister Karine Lalieux said yesterday. The income replacement allowance (ARR) will also be increased.
A single worker who has worked a full career (i.e. 45 years) will thus see their pension increase by €327 compared to the €1,292 allocated since September 2020, to reach €1,619 net per month. The monthly amount of a pension at the household rate will increase from €1,614 to €2,172 net.
This increase “concerns one million minimum pension beneficiaries, a majority of whom are women”, underlined the socialist minister.
Pensions above the minimum and which started in 2019 will be increased by 2%.
The income replacement allowance will also be increased and will reach €1,295 per month for a single person (up almost €335 compared to October 2020), €863 for a cohabitant (compared to €639) or €1,750 s in the event of dependent family (compared to €1,296 in October 2020).
The ARR is granted to people with disabilities who, due to their physical or mental situation, can earn a third less income compared to an able-bodied person in the labor market. More than 140,000 people benefit from it in Belgium, according to figures from the firm.
Furthermore, pensioners’ vacation pay will also increase, by 2.55%. However, you will have to wait until May to take advantage of it.
Mortgage credit: fees revised downwards
Between 2014 and 2018, credit institutions increased the price of taking out a property loan by around 50% on average, from €320 to €479, without clear justification, according to the Price Observatory. Since then, it has even reached €500. This ceiling will be reduced to €350 from January 1, 2024.
Meal vouchers for certain civil servants
The approximately 65,000 federal civil servants will also be at the party. From January 1st, they will benefit from meal vouchers, without waiting for April 1st.
A pre-agreement concluded in June 2022 provided for both a salary increase and meal vouchers from the end of 2022. However, during the budget negotiations last October, the government decided to postpone the measure until spring 2024, largely damage to the unions.
Meal vouchers will finally be granted from January 1st. Concretely, each member of staff will benefit from a personal electronic meal voucher per day worked, the nominal value of which is set at €6. Per civil servant, this will represent a gain of around €1,000 net per year.
VAT at 6% for demolitions-renovations
Anyone wishing to demolish a building before rebuilding a private home in the same location will be able to benefit, from January 1, from a VAT rate of 6% instead of 21% a few years ago. The provisional measure was taken in 2021 during the coronavirus crisis. It is now perpetuated, except for large housing projects, which Embuild regrets.
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