Walloon 2027 Budget: Car Tax, Inheritance, Infrastructure

The Walloon government presented its 2027-2029 budget on Monday, unveiling a three-year fiscal plan that reforms car taxation, reshapes inheritance rights and commits billions to infrastructure. Announced by Minister-President Adrien Dolimont, the agreement is the first multi-year budget in Wallonia’s history and targets a balanced budget by 2029.

Dolimont described the trajectory as “structured and readable,” saying it would give residents the visibility needed to plan ahead. “With this 3-year trajectory, we give Walloons the visibility needed to project themselves, invest and build their future projects,” he said, as reported by RTBF.

A Three-Year Fiscal Path

The multi-year framework sets a SEC deficit to finance of 1.351 billion euros in 2027, 855 million euros in 2028, and a surplus of 15 million euros in 2029 — the year the government aims to reach equilibrium. To close the gap, the region is cutting the indexation of several budget lines by 2% from 2027 to 2029, a measure affecting the Fonds des communes and employment aid schemes.

“Each public euro must be better used, better returned to the citizen,” Dolimont said.

Job Bonus Aims at Purchasing Power

At the centre of the government’s purchasing-power strategy is a new “job bonus”: 205 million euros earmarked to support workers. The degressive annual bonus will reach up to 500 euros for the lowest earners and apply to workers earning up to 5,000 euros gross per month. Around 900,000 workers are expected to benefit, with payments starting in 2028. A full federal tax exemption of 100% is possible under the scheme.

Opposition parties were quick to criticise the timing. The PS argued that the bonuses arrive too late to offset costs taking effect earlier. “The only measure meant to relieve them — the job bonus — won’t arrive until 2028,” the party said, calling the budget “an enfumage (smokescreen) that hides an avalanche of bad news for Walloons’ purchasing power,” according to RTBF’s coverage of the reactions.

Inheritance Relief and Family Support

On inheritance, the government will introduce a 75,000-euro allowance for direct-line successions from 1 January 2028. Dolimont said this would exempt roughly 62% of direct-line successions, compared with under 25% today, and that the maximum rate for other heirs would fall from 80% to 50%. “There will be no inheritance right above 50%,” he said. The planned reduction in property donation rights, voted at the end of 2024, is maintained for 1 January 2028.

Family allowances are preserved in all components, including the universal right up to age 25 and birth, adoption and school bonuses. Madeleine Guyot, director-general of the Ligue des Familles, told RTL Info she was “reassured that the Walloon government… maintain(s) family allowances in all their components so as not to further weaken families.”

Infrastructure Drive and Car Taxation

Infrastructure is a headline priority: 3.5 billion euros over seven years, including 504 million euros for bridges and 442 million euros for waterways. Infrastructure Minister Francois Desquesnes said the investment is “significantly more than under the previous government.”

On mobility, the annual circulation tax will fall from 1 April 2027 — by 56.26 euros for small-engine and electric vehicles, 75 euros for 751-1,950 cm3 engines, 60 euros for 1,951-3,050 cm3, and 40 euros for larger engines. The cost is estimated at about 140 million euros a year. Oldtimers’ tax drops to 0 euros, the light trailer tax is abolished from 2028, and single-parent families get an extra 30 euros off.

These cuts are paired with a new road vignette from 1 May 2027: 90 euros for electric vehicles, 100 euros for Euro 4 and above, and 125 euros for Euro 0-3, with exemptions for disabled drivers, emergency and police vehicles. Revenue is estimated at 327-342 million euros annually. A kilometre charge for trucks over 3.5 tonnes will extend by 100 km in summer 2027, including the Tubize bypass, and by up to 500 km more in January 2028.

The opposition and unions attacked the trade-off. PTB group leader Germain Mugemangango called the vignette “a new tax on Walloon motorists, with no guarantee of compensation.” The FGTB calculated that a 1,600 cm3 petrol or diesel car owner would pay 25 euros more a year, arguing that the tax cuts cost 141 million euros annually while the vignette raises 342 million. “It is not a reform, it is a tax increase,” the union said.

Energy, Climate and Reform

The budget allocates 180 million euros for indirect carbon-cost compensation and 90 million for a new European support scheme under CISAF, plus 10 million for white hydrogen research. For its 2050 energy strategy, the government keeps two scenarios with 3 and 4 gigawatts of nuclear capacity.

On climate, 20 million euros over four years will restore 3,400 hectares of the Hautes-Fagnes after August wildfires, with 18 million for fire prevention and 750 million for housing renovation. A further 100 million euros funds the first adaptation measures and 175 million goes to municipal flood-prevention plans. Energy Minister Cecile Neven said adaptation and mitigation must advance together. “It is not because we do adaptation that we do less mitigation, or the opposite; we must do both at the same time,” she said.

The government also confirmed reforms to local government, cutting 510 communal councillors and 256 aldermen, and plans to abolish the provinces on 1 January 2031. On civil service, 10 million euros a year will be added through 2029, with AI used to automate repetitive tasks, while 1,260 civil servants will not be replaced by 2029. Health gains include 2 million euros for mental health, 2.7 million for autism and 2.9 million for disability aid.

Business federations were largely supportive. Agoria called the job bonus “a positive signal in favour of the attractiveness of work,” while Essenscia welcomed the carbon compensation and the end of an industrial compensatory tax, saying it closed “a long period of legal and fiscal uncertainty.”

What’s Next

Key milestones now loom: the circulation-tax cut and oldtimers’ exemption take effect on 1 April 2027, followed by the vignette on 1 May 2027. Inheritance relief and job-bonus payments begin in 2028, with budget equilibrium targeted for 2029. A public inquiry into the Boucle du Hainaut grid project is expected in early 2027, with final adoption hoped for by year’s end.

As Dolimont framed the budget before a day of pushback, “There is no magic money” — a sentiment that may define the political battles ahead as Walloons weigh promised relief against near-term costs.