Mileage allowance far too low: this is how high it really should be

Unreimbursed travel expenses

Since 2006, employers were allowed to pay their staff a maximum of 19 cents per kilometer tax-free. Due to inflation, the corona crisis, war in Ukraine and, of course, higher excise taxes on fuel, motorists are paying considerably more at the pump than 17 years ago. Moreover, the price tag of an average new car is also many times higher than in 2006. For the cheapest car in the Netherlands in 2023 – a small city car – you will already pay almost 16,000 euros.

Increase

The House of Representatives felt it was therefore time to straighten out travel reimbursement. From January 2023, the untaxed allowance will be 21 cents per kilometer. According to the Business Drivers Association, however, this is at least 10 cents too little. Employees with their own cars still have to pay heavily to get to work, according to the VZR.

31 cents

The VZR calculated what employees should receive at a minimum per mile with current fuel prices. Even for a car in the smallest category, this car already costs the employee 24 cents per mile. For a car over 40,000 euros, the average mileage cost is as high as 46 cents, according to the association. The association goes roughly between that amount and advocates a mileage allowance of 0.31 cents.

Jan van Delft Chairman of VZR: “Driving a car is expensive. It is only reasonable that fair rates are reimbursed or passed on between parties. VZR provides a standard for this in a careful calculation based on objective and verifiable data every year. We recommend that parties adopt this standard. The increase to €0.21 is nice but still does not cover the load.”

The chances of the government adopting the advice seem slim to us. Still, there is good news: the untaxed mileage allowance will be further increased by a whole cent in 2024, to 22 cents.

Also read: This is how the government will record your mileage for road pricing