Economy and Banking Sector of Belgium

Personal Income Tax

Personal income tax is levied on an individual's wages, salaries, and other types of income. Because of exemptions, deductions, and credits, most individuals do not pay taxes on all of their income.

Personal Income Tax Rates in Belgium: 25.0 - 50.0%

In Belgium progressive tax rates from 25.0% to 50.0% are applied to personal income.

An example of calculating a tax amount for personal income from 20,000 EUR to 100,000 EUR is shown in the Table 2. The calculation is done for a single taxpayer, social security contributions are not taken into account. Effective tax rates less than 15,00 % are considered taxpayer-friendly, while the rates more than 35,00 % are considered aggressive.

Further Information

• How Much Personal Income Tax Do You Pay in Europe?

Corporate Income Tax

Corporate Income Tax Rate in Belgium: 25.0%

In Belgium a flat tax rate of 25.0% is applied to business income.

Withholding Tax

Withholding taxes are imposed at source of income and are often applied to dividends, interest, royalties, rent and similar payments. The rates of withholding tax are often reduced by double taxation agreements.

Withholding Tax Rates in Belgium: 0.0 - 25.0%

Withholding tax rates applied on payments of interest and dividends in Belgium are shown in Table 3.

Double Taxation Agreements

Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) is an agreement between two or more countries for the avoidance of double taxation.

DTAs of Belgium: 100 Signed Agreements

Belgium signed DTAs which already came info force with the following jurisdictions:

There are also several agreements between Belgium and other jurisdictions which were signed but haven't yet come into force:

Information Exchange

There are 3 ways for jusrisdictions to exchange information on tax matters:

• spontaneously;
• on request;
• automatically.

Spontaneous exchange of information is provision of information that is forseeably relevant to another party without a request being previously sent.

Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) enable exchange of information on request relating to a specific tax investigation, either criminal or civil.

Automatic information exchange allows jurisdictions to exchange information automatically, without having a specific tax investigation.

Exchange on Request: 17 Signed Agreements

Belgium signed TIEAs which already came info force with the following jurisdictions :

There are also several agreements between Belgium and other jurisdictions which was signed but haven't yet come into force:

Automatic Exchange: Starts in September 2017

Belgium signed the automatic information exchange agreement on 29 October 2014 and committed to start the automatic information exchange in September 2017.

Automatic Excnange: 58 Bilateral Agreements to Receive Information

Belgium has signed bilateral agreements with 58 jurisdictions to automatically receive information:

Automatic Excnange: 70 Bilateral Agreements to Send Information

Belgium has signed bilateral agreements with 70 jurisdictions to automatically send information:

Further Information

• Automatic Exchange of Information on Financial Accounts
• Countries Which Will Not Automatically Exchange Account Information

FATCA

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) which became law in the United States in March 2010, focuses on reporting made by foreign financial institutions about financial accounts held by US taxpayers or foreign entities in which US taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest. The FATCA-reporting is facilitated by Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs).

Belgium has FATCA agreement with the U.S. in effect since 23 April 2014 (Intergovernmental Agreement Model 1). Financial institutions operating in Belgium are required to identify U.S. taxpayers by January 1, 2017 and to report the information for 2017 and the subsequent years. The agreement is reciprocal: Belgian financial accounts hold in U.S. financial institutions will be reported to Belgian authorities.

Further Information

• FATCA and European countries