Electric company car BIK: do you really pay the minimum?

No, not always. A new electric company SUV only pays the €1,690 minimum ATN (avantage de toute nature, the Belgian benefit in kind) in 2026 if its list price stays below €49,292, options and VAT included. Above that, the taxable benefit climbs with every option ticked, and only the age of the vehicle brings it back down.

From what list price does the ATN exceed the minimum?

€49,291.67. That is the point where the formula meets the floor.

The calculation is easy to redo: €1,690 divided by 4%, then by 6/7. Below this threshold, whether the SUV costs €38,000 or €49,000, the driver declares the same amount, €1,690 a year. The 2026 legal minimum is confirmed by BNP Paribas Fortis in its article of 3 July 2026; it was €1,650 in 2025.

On the Belgian market, many electric family SUVs cross that line as soon as you add the large battery, all-wheel drive and a driver-assistance pack. A model advertised at €46,000 in base trim quickly reaches €52,000 on the order form, and the floor no longer protects it.

How do you calculate the ATN of an electric car?

In four multiplications, in this order.

1. Take the list price of the vehicle when new, options and VAT included.
2. Multiply it by 4%. That is the floor of the CO2 percentage, which a vehicle with no direct emissions reaches automatically, as Securex points out.
3. Multiply by 6/7.
4. Multiply by the age coefficient, 100% in the first year.

Finally, compare the result with €1,690 and keep the higher of the two. In practice, that gives €1,885.71 for a new SUV listed at €55,000, €2,571.43 at €75,000 and €3,085.71 at €90,000. The figure that matters: every €1,000 of list price above the threshold adds €34.29 of taxable benefit a year.

Which list price does the tax office use?

More than the price paid. The base includes options and VAT, but not discounts or promotions, BNP Paribas Fortis specifies: a fleet that obtains a 12% discount on a €60,000 SUV pays €52,800, and the driver is taxed on €60,000.

Does the ATN fall as the SUV gets older?

Yes, by 6 points a year from the thirteenth month, down to a 70% floor reached after sixty months. The threshold below which the minimum applies therefore rises year after year.

Our calculation on 19 October 2026, using the 2026 minimum and formula.

An SUV listed at €75,000 never falls back to the minimum. At 88%, in its third year, it still generates €2,262.86; at 70%, €1,800. The same reasoning applies to a used electric SUV taken into a fleet: the base remains the new list price, and only the age coefficient moves.

Does home charging add an ATN?

In principle no, and that is the strongest tax argument for an electric company car. Since circular 2024/C/77 of 5 December 2024, electricity reimbursed for charging at home is absorbed into the car's flat-rate ATN, under several conditions detailed by Securex:

• the charger is installed on the employee's private property;
• the electrical installation is compliant to host it;
• consumption is metered separately, by the charger or by a verifiable intermediate meter;
• the car policy provides for the reimbursement;
• the price per kWh reimbursed does not exceed the CREG rate (set by the federal energy regulator) of the Region where the employee lives.

That last condition is the only one that depends on the address. The fourth-quarter 2026 caps, published by Fleet.be on 11 August 2026, are not the same everywhere.

Our assumption: an electric SUV using 20 kWh per 100 km, covering 15,000 km a year and taking 80% of its energy at home. An employer may also choose, for the whole calendar year, to apply the lowest of the three rates to everyone, as the OECCBB blog recalls. A Walloon employee then loses €132.96 a year on our assumption.

Avoid: getting reimbursed for charging you paid yourself at a public charger. This time the reimbursement falls outside the flat rate and in principle creates an additional taxable benefit. If you have no charger at home, our selection of electric SUVs without a home charger lists the models that cope best.

Does a personal contribution lower the ATN?

Yes, euro for euro. According to UCM, the €1,690 minimum is reduced by the contribution paid by the employee. Paying €100 a month for an option or a higher category removes €1,200 from the annual benefit.

Six cases, six answers

The amounts assume an electric SUV, a list price including options and VAT, and the 2026 parameters.

The row that surprises most is the first one. Below the threshold, the tax office makes no difference between a compact electric SUV at €40,000 and a family one at €49,000: the option you fancy costs your employer, not your tax return.

How much tax does the ATN really cost?

Less than the amount shown, since it is added to your taxable income instead of being paid as such. At a 50% marginal rate, excluding municipal tax, the €1,690 minimum costs about €845 in tax a year, or €70 a month for a car whose insurance, maintenance and electricity are paid by the employer.

On the company side, the calculation lies elsewhere: 100% deductibility for an electric car ordered before 2027, detailed in our article on company SUV taxation. Regional taxes are covered in our guide to the registration tax and annual road tax, and to compare two electric SUVs on price and consumption, use our comparison tool.