Living in Belgium - Taxes and charges

Wages are expressed as gross salaries per hour or per month (occasionally per 28 days).

There are two types of deductions on gross income for employees: 

• the social security contribution, and wage tax. The social security contribution is always 13.07% of the total income for everyone. 

The deductions for tax depend mainly on the family situation (are you single or do you have dependants?). N.B. Child benefit is a nominative amount that is paid independently of other information. It is tax-free.

For the 2003 tax year (2002 income), the brackets for net income were as follows:

• 25% per 1st bracket or EUR 0.01 to EUR 6,950 above the tax-free allowance
• 30% per bracket EUR 6,950 to EUR 9,890
• 40% per bracket EUR 9,890 to EUR 16,480
• 45% per bracket EUR 16,480 to EUR 30,210
• 50% per bracket above EUR 30,210

Grounds for paying tax in Belgium include: a residence in Belgium, you work in Belgium (not for cross-border workers from France and Germany), are seconded to Belgium and exceed the limit of 183 days. Discuss your personal situation with the tax service where you live or work.

The tax-free allowance depends on the family situation.

Discuss the payments that can be deducted from taxes with a specialist, e.g. pension-saving, dependants.

Are you working for a short period? In this case check whether you might fall within a special tax scheme, e.g. for students. During the fruit-picking season, ordinary tax rates are used, but with a reduced social security contribution per day.

Tax return procedure if you have a residence in Belgium

Anybody who has a residence in Belgium is assessed for tax purposes. As a rule, tax returns have to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for your place of residence in the year following the year worked. One year later, a timely and valid assessment is produced before the end of June. If you live in Belgium, you will also pay local taxes. These contributions – collected by means of taxes – are called surcharges. They vary from place to place.

Each country has its own double-tax treaty with Belgium. This is of interest if your place of residence is elsewhere, you are a cross-border worker from France or Germany or you are seconded to Belgium.

Consult the tax authorities in the country where you live and work.

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Text last edited on: 08/2006

Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2007
Reproduction is authorised.