Brussels car tax reform: what impact on the cost of your car?

In short: Brussels is reforming its car taxation from the second half of 2027. Electric cars and small cars of 5 fiscal horsepower (CV) or less will no longer pay road tax. Road tax will fall for other cars, except leased ones. On the other hand, registration tax (TMC) will now also depend on weight, which will push it up for SUVs and heavy vehicles. All of this arrives at the same time as the road vignette, expected in May 2027 at €90 to €125 a year. In terms of total cost of ownership (TCO), the "tax bonanza" for electric cars is mainly compensation for the vignette. The real change concerns big vehicles, which will pay more at purchase.

What the reform provides for#

The broad outlines were unveiled in early October by the Brussels government (La DH, 5 October 2026):

• Road tax: full exemption for zero-emission vehicles and for cars of 5 CV or less, from the second half of 2027. Around 50,000 vehicles would be affected.
• Road tax: a reduction for the rest of the fleet, with the exception of leased vehicles. The amount has not been disclosed.
• Registration tax: a weight-related coefficient is added. Heavy vehicles will pay more on registration. The government expects 10% additional revenue from it.
• Road vignette from May 2027, between €90 and €125 a year. It applies to all users of the road network, Brussels residents and non-residents alike.

The Minister of Finance and Budget, Dirk De Smedt (Anders), sums up the aim: "Brussels motorists will not pay a single euro more." The road tax reduction is therefore meant to offset the vignette.

At this stage, these are announcements: the texts have not been adopted and the new rates have not been published. AutoCalcul continues to apply the rates in force and will update them as soon as they are officially published.

Current rates, the starting point#

To measure the impact, we need to start from what a car registered in Brussels pays today (rates from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027):

Two reminders. Brussels registration tax depends on power, read in fiscal horsepower or in kW, and the higher amount applies: above 155 kW, you already pay the maximum, €6,357.85. An electric car currently pays the minimum registration tax (€78.88) and the minimum road tax rate (€107.18).

Electric cars: a real gain, but absorbed by the vignette#

For an electric car, the exemption removes a tax of €107.18 a year. But the vignette will cost €90 to €125. The annual balance therefore ranges from a gain of €17 to a loss of €18. Over four years of ownership, the effect on the TCO comes to a few dozen euros, one way or the other.

Regional taxes in fact weigh little in the cost of an electric car. For a Brussels private individual driving 20,000 km a year for four years, the taxes (registration tax + road tax) represent about 1.7% of the TCO of a Renault 5 and 1.4% of that of a Tesla Model Y. Electric cars remain attractive in Brussels, but not thanks to this reform: their strengths are energy, maintenance and, for companies, deductibility.

Small city cars: check your fiscal horsepower#

The exemption for cars of 5 CV or less is the most generous part: a saving of €134.11 a year, against a vignette of €90 to €125. The balance is a slight gain of €9 to €44 a year.

The catch: fiscal horsepower depends on engine capacity, not actual power. The small 1-litre (999 cc) three-cylinder engines fitted to most new petrol city cars, such as the Fiat 500 hybrid or the Dacia Sandero TCe 100, are rated at 6 CV. They are therefore not covered by the exemption. To be at 5 CV, you need an engine of roughly 950 cc at most: these are found mainly among used city cars. Before counting on the exemption, check the fiscal horsepower shown on your registration certificate.

Mid-sized cars: the promise of neutrality#

For cars of 6 CV and above, road tax will fall, but by how much? The government has not said. If the promise is kept, the reduction will offset the vignette, and the TCO will not change.

For a BMW X1 petrol (8 CV), the current road tax of €313.24 a year should therefore fall by about €90 to €125, the price of the vignette. That leaves registration tax: with the weight coefficient, a mid-sized car could pay slightly more or slightly less than today, depending on its weight. Until the rates are published, it is impossible to put a precise figure on it.

SUVs and heavy vehicles: registration tax goes up#

These are the big losers of the reform. The weight coefficient will increase registration tax on heavy vehicles, even though it is already high. For an SUV over 155 kW, it currently sits at the top of the scale, at €6,357.85.

The exact amount will depend on the rates, but the order of magnitude is simple: every 10% added to the registration tax of a BMW X5 means about €636 more at purchase. It is a one-off cost, paid on registration, but it is added to the TCO from day one and is not recovered on resale.

For these vehicles, regional taxes already weigh heavily. Over four years, a BMW X5 40d currently pays about €10,660 in registration tax and road tax, or 12% of its TCO for a private individual. That is more than a full year's TCO for an electric Renault 5 (about €7,500).

The government is also studying a "Light and Safe" zone that would gradually restrict the use of the heaviest private vehicles, such as American pick-ups (Ford F-150, Dodge RAM). For now, this is only an idea.

Company cars and leasing: beware of the exception#

The road tax reduction excludes leased vehicles. A company car on a renting contract, registered in the name of a leasing company, will therefore not benefit from it. If the vignette is payable for that vehicle, its cost is likely to end up in the lease payment, with no compensation. For an electric company car on a renting contract, the impact would be limited to €90 to €125 a year, a small amount compared with the lease payment, but not the "bonanza" that was announced.

A company that buys its vehicles, or a self-employed person driving a car registered in their own name, will on the other hand benefit from the reduction just like a private individual. The choice between leasing and buying remains mainly a question of cash flow and deductibility: the reform does not tip the balance.

Key takeaways#

The Brussels reform changes little in the running cost of a car: for most motorists, the road tax reduction and the vignette cancel each other out. It does, however, change the purchase cost of heavy vehicles, through registration tax. If you are hesitating between a heavy SUV and a lighter model, or if you were planning to register a big vehicle at the end of 2027, weight will become a tax criterion in Brussels, as it already is in Wallonia (see our comparison of regional registration taxes).

We will update this article and the calculation engine as soon as the final rates are published. In the meantime, calculate your car's TCO using the rates in force: registration tax and road tax are only part of the cost, and often not the heaviest.

Tax rules change — check the legislation in force.