‘Turteltax’ declared unconstitutional by court
The controversial extra tax added to consumers’ electricity bills must be scrapped starting next year, following a decision by the Constitutional Court
‘Debts haven’t disappeared’
The tax breaches the law that the regions cannot levy taxes on matters where a federal tax is already in place. The contested Turteltax was introduced last year to compensate the debts caused by green energy certificates, a subsidy system for solar panels.
When the subsidies became more popular than the government had calculated, the energy minister decided to make up the funds lost by adding a tax to everyone’s electricity bill. Critics noted that households that didn’t have the resources to install solar panels were helping pay for those that did.
For most households, the tax amounted to about €100 a year, but it was much higher for people who used more electricity. The controversial tax lost Turtelboom (Open VLD) her job; she was replaced as energy minister last year by Bart Tommelein.
To “avoid legal insecurity and administrative problems,” the court said, the decision is not retroactive; the tax will be scrapped as of 2018. Taxes paid in 2016 and 2017 will not be reimbursed.
Tommelein said that the government would “look at other ways to solve” the debt acquired through the green energy certificates. “The disappearance of the tax does not make past debts disappear,” he said.
Tommelein told TV news programme Terzake that any decision would have to have the backing of the entire government in order for him to avoid the same fate that befell Turtelboom.
Biomass energy plants in Ghent and Genk are no longer set to receive billions in subsidies, which could go some way to making up the tax deficit, according to some politicians.
Photo: Siska Gremmelprez/BELGA
