The costs of a company lease car continue to rise. The average tax paid by business drivers through the taxable benefit has increased by 35% in eight years. This means that lease drivers are now spending hundreds of euros more per year on average. The Association of Business Drivers (VZR) is therefore advocating for a reform of the system, taking a closer look at the actual use of a car.
Company car tax liability has risen sharply
In 2018, a business driver paid an average of approximately €2.644 per year in tax via the addition to taxable income. By 2025, this had risen to around €3.571 per year. That amounts to an increase of approximately €927 per year.
Converted, a lease driver pays on average about €78 net per month more than eight years ago. Consequently, the average net tax addition rose from approximately €220 per month in 2018 to €298 per month in 2025. That is an increase of 35,1%.
Higher revenues for the government
Government revenue from company car tax has also increased significantly. According to VZR's calculations, this amounted to approximately €1,85 billion in 2018. By 2025, this was around €2,5 billion per year. VZR bases its calculations on data from the Ministry of Finance and the Court of Audit and assumes that approximately 700.000 Dutch citizens actually pay company car tax. Consequently, the government receives approximately €650 million more annually from company car tax than eight years ago.
According to VZR, company car tax is an outdated system.
The tax addition for a lease car is a flat-rate system. It does not matter how many private kilometers someone actually drives. According to VZR, the type of car and the way it is used also play insufficient role in the calculation.
In the past, the tax addition was used to make the choice of fuel-efficient cars, including electric cars, financially more attractive. That incentive has now largely disappeared. According to VZR, the system can therefore be structured more intelligently. One of the proposed options is to calculate the tax addition based on the actual number of private kilometers driven.
Trip logging can play a greater role
A system that considers actual private use could also place more emphasis on accurate mileage logging . This allows for recording the number of kilometers driven for business and private purposes.
Moreover, for business drivers, accurate mileage records are important if they wish to demonstrate that they drive no more than 500 kilometers privately per year and are therefore not liable for any tax addition.
Lack of transparency regarding company car tax
VZR finds it striking that revenue from company car tax is not reported clearly and transparently. It is also said to be insufficiently clear what happens to the extra tax revenue. According to VZR's calculations, the government received approximately €650 million more in company car tax in 2025 than eight years earlier. A further increase in revenue is also expected for 2026.
VZR advocates for a long-term vision
According to VZR, the mobility discussion lacks a clear long-term vision. The organization believes that current policy contributes insufficiently to a newer and cleaner vehicle fleet.
The organization also points out the potential consequences of the high costs of a leased car. According to VZR, business drivers may increasingly choose not to take a company car and drive business kilometers in an older, less fuel-efficient car.
According to VZR, that could actually have a counterproductive effect on both tax revenues and emissions.
Reform of the tax addition
VZR Chairman Martin Huisman states that the limit of the taxable benefit has been reached. According to him, a structural reform is needed that examines how the taxable benefit can contribute to a newer vehicle fleet with lower emissions.
For business drivers, the taxable benefit of a leased car therefore remains an important part of the total costs of a company car. It remains to be seen in the coming years whether the current system will be adjusted and what role actual kilometers driven will play in this.
