CREG rate explained: how is it determined?

The CREG rate is the official maximum rate at which an employer may reimburse an employee, tax-free, for the cost of charging an electric company car at home.

The rate is set by CREG — the Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation, Belgium's independent federal energy regulator. CREG publishes the average residential electricity prices per distribution zone every quarter, and the Belgian FPS Finance uses these figures as a flat-rate benchmark for tax-free reimbursement.

In practical terms: if you charge your company car at home as an employee and your employer reimburses you up to the CREG rate per kWh, you pay no additional personal income tax and no additional social security contributions are due. Reimbursements above the CREG rate are, however, treated as a taxable benefit.

View the current rates directly on the live rate table or read the full background in the complete CREG guide.

The CREG rate is not an arbitrary number. It is a weighted average of residential energy prices (the actual energy component, excluding distribution and transmission costs, levies and VAT) per distribution region in Belgium.

To calculate it, CREG collects the published prices of the main energy suppliers active in each distribution zone. From this data it calculates a representative average that reflects what an average Belgian household actually pays per kWh of electricity consumed at home.

The Belgian FPS Finance then uses this average as an upper limit for tax-free reimbursement. The reasoning is straightforward: the employer reimburses exactly what was realistically spent charging the company car at home — no more, no less.

Electricity prices are not stable: they are determined by wholesale markets that fluctuate daily under the influence of seasons, geopolitical events, the energy mix and demand. An annual rate would therefore quickly become outdated.

That's why CREG opts for a quarterly publication schedule. Four new rates are published every year:

For reimbursement of charging sessions in a given month, you always use the rate of the quarter in which that month falls. A charging session on 15 February therefore falls under Q1, a session on 20 September under Q3.

Our calculator automatically links each charging session to the correct quarterly rate based on the date — you don't need to look anything up yourself.

Belgium has three distribution regions, each with its own grid operator and its own average electricity profile. As a result, the CREG rate differs per region. Below is a historical overview of recent quarters:

The rate in Wallonia and Brussels is structurally higher than in Flanders. This reflects the difference in underlying average electricity prices in those distribution regions. The employee's home region is decisive — not the employer's place of business.

Want to see the most current rates, including quarters not yet in this table? Check the live CREG rate table. More context on why these regional differences exist and what they mean for your reimbursement can be found in our guide CREG rate compared by region.

The formula for the monthly reimbursement is simple:

In practice, an employee has charging sessions on varying dates spread across multiple months and quarters. Each session falls under the quarterly rate that applied on the date of charging. Our calculator processes all of these sessions automatically and generates a detailed overview per quarter.

Simply paste your charging data (date + kWh per session) into the calculator and download a professional PDF report for your accountant or employer.

Want to lower your total charging costs on top of the CREG reimbursement? Our guide saving on charging costs with your electric company car gives seven practical tips.