Changes to commuting reimbursement
After five years without changes, the national collective bargaining agreement for reimbursement for commuting by public transportation is being revised. This new arrangement will take effect on June 1, 2024. In subsequent years, reimbursements will be automatically adjusted to SNCB's fare increases.
1. Minimum public transportation intervention increases
CBA No. 19/9 stipulates that private sector employers must pay a minimum share of the costs incurred by their employees to travel to work by public transport. Specifically, for the SNCB, streetcar, bus and metro.
NMBS
A table was included in Collective Agreement No. 19/9 that provides for minimum interventions according to the number of kilometers (distance only) and the type of subscription taken (monthly, quarterly or annual). Since 2019, the intervention is 70% of the then SNCB prices. Despite repeated SNCB price increases, the table remained unchanged. As a result, the cost for employees coming to work by train became higher every year. Currently, an employee is only reimbursed 55-56% of the train ticket, which is in huge contrast to the originally set intervention of 70% in 2019.
From June 1, 2024, this will finally change. From then on, the intervention will be increased to 71.8% from SNCB's current rates.
Example: an employee who takes the train from Antwerp to Brussels every day (48km one way) with a season ticket of €185/month. Before the change, the employer intervenes for €104/month, from June 1, 2024 it will be €133/month.
It also expands the table to include rates for flex subscriptions. These are subscriptions for employees who come to work only 2 or 3 days a week and work from home for the remaining time. Consequently, as of June 1, employees are required to choose the subscription plan that best suits their work regime.
A final innovation is that the table will be automatically adjusted in future years. When SNCB implements a price increase in the years 2025 to 2029, the table will be automatically adjusted each February 1 of the year in question. However, this automatic increase is limited to a maximum of 2.5% per year.
Tip: Station distances will no longer be listed on season tickets. Consequently, the employer (or employee) must look them up on the site of the SNCB.
Streetcar, bus and subway
The table of train tickets is also used when reimbursing other means of public transport such as streetcar, bus and metro. Here, the amount of the reimbursement differs depending on whether the employee pays a flat rate for a ticket or a rate based on the distance traveled. In Belgium, the latter is rare.
At a fixed price, the employee is entitled to a reimbursement of 71.8% of the actual transportation fare. However, this right is limited to the intervention in train transportation for a distance of 7 kilometers only.
At a price relative to distance the employee is entitled to the same reimbursement as for train transportation but limited to 75% of the actual transportation price.
Although this rule per se does not change from June 2024, the increase in the intervention for rail transportation will also increase the mandatory intervention for these other public transportation modes.
2. Sector may mandate higher intervention
CBA No. 19/9 imposes a minimum intermediate payment on the employer. But an industry or company may choose to pay more back. In some sectors, for example, a third-party payer system becomes mandatory (see below).
Other sectors such as PC 200 and 207, provide for an 80% intervention of the price of a train ticket. In PC 314 and 323, it is 100%, in which case a third-party payer system is more interesting.
Tip: Check carefully whether the PC under which the company operates regulates another intervention.
3. Third-payer scheme
Under a third-party payer system, the employer pays 80% of the price of the train ticket, directly to SNCB, meaning the employee does not have to advance this amount. The remaining 20% is financed by the government, which is a win-win for both parties. If the PC under which the company operates provides a 100% intervention, this is a better solution. The employee gets the full reimbursement of the train pass, while the employer has to finance only 80% of the cost itself.
4. Private transport
Regarding private transportation, there is no national obligation across sectors for employers to intervene in the costs incurred by employees using a private vehicle. Again, the sector can impose this.
Nothing changes to this principle from June 2024 and it remains the same with the message to check the PC.
Train pass tax credits
Finally, it introduces new bill containing various tax provisions a novelty regarding train season tickets. However, this regulation is not yet officially in force. We discuss here the draft law that was submitted, until the legislative process is completed the proposed measures may still change and have no legal force.
Employees who commute to work by train generally receive employer reimbursement:
- In the case of the third-payer system, the employer bears 80% of the cost of the subscription and the federal state bears the remaining 20%. This amounts to a full (100%) reimbursement for the employee.
- If they fall under collective bargaining agreement No. 19/9, the employer bears about 56% of the cost of the subscription (as of June 1, 2024, 71.8%). This is not where the government comes in.
- Employees covered by a more favorable collective bargaining agreement receive a lump-sum allowance from the employer. Again, the government does not intervene.
The bill includes a temporary measure to encourage employers to increase contributions with respect to their employees. Provision is made for the government to temporarily meet the cost of this move (as is the case with the third-party payer system) in the form of a tax credit.
A tax credit is a tax break that reduces the employer's tax burden. It offsets the additional costs incurred by the employer due to the increase in the allowance.
Specifically, this measure provides government reimbursement of up to 7.5% of the subscription cost for employers who increase their contributions to the subscription cost to at least 79.3%.
If you have any questions on this topic, please do not hesitate to contact us.
