Finance Minister Van Peteghem instructs his government colleagues. Which ones are replicating.
Originally from Brussels, Maxence, 33, scams the country’s roads all day long. His job as a salesperson requires him to fill up twice a week, sometimes three. “And as an independent, it hurts the wallet, very badly, he sighs. And there’s not much I can do to limit my fuel costs: I need my car to meet my customers.”
What makes Maxence most uncomfortable is when he calculates what he really pays for fuel and what he pays in taxes and excise. “With every job I do, it’s the state that gets a little richer.”
To better understand his thinking, it is necessary to know how the price of fuels is set in Belgium. It consists of five main elements: the price of the product at the exit of the refinery; margins and distribution costs; the Apetra assessment, which is supposed to allow the State to maintain a minimum oil stock; excise taxes (fixed price) and VAT of 21%.
