The Walloon parliament’s commission has approved the majority’s proposal for a substantial reduction in the road tax on motorhomes and campers. Taxes had risen sharply following the entry into force of the Walloon decree for a ‘fair tax’.

The approved proposal by the PS-MR-Ecolo majority envisages setting the motorhome road tax at 40% of the current rate. Similarly, the tariff for car registration may not exceed 35% of the current rate. That means the average road tax will be 194 euros compared to 486 euros. The first car registration tax will drop from 1 614 to 565 euros.

Retroactive effect

The measure will take effect from 1 January 2022, meaning it will retroactively affect motorhome owners. The majority does acknowledge that it is not the perfect solution, but one “that takes into account all interests, including those of Walloon finances,” said Nicolas Tzanetatos (MR).

The taxation of motorhomes exploded in Wallonia following the entry into force of the decree for a fairer tax proposed at the time by Minister Jean-Luc Crucke, who switched a few weeks ago from the ranks of the MR to those of the Engagés.

Crucke, who was Budget minister when the decree was introduced, clashed with party president Georges-Louis Bouchez just over the decree to implement a fiscal reform.

Legal quicksand

But the decree, which sought to get commercial vehicles out of the profitable tax niche they enjoyed, had an unfortunate consequence: motorhomes and campers found themselves assimilated into commercial vehicles.

According to group leader François Desquesnes of the opposition party Les Engagés, which had its own proposed decree, the majority’s proposal that was now adopted in the Budget Committee is built on legal quicksand and will be appealed because it is incoherent and potentially discriminatory.

Usually, the “corrective” decree, which now says that motorhomes are vehicles for moderate use and almost exclusively for leisure, should pass the plenary session in the Walloon parliament this Wednesday.

Since the Crucke decree came into force in January 2022, sales have fallen by 70%, according to the Belgian Caravan-Camping and Motorhome Association.