How are new Belgian tax measures in force since the start of 2026 affecting companies?

Since the Belgian Federal election in June 2024 and the formation of a new federal government, a myriad of tax reforms and measures have been announced and, for some of them, approved and implemented.

Dividends Received Deduction (DRD)

Dividends received by Belgian companies may be exempt from corporate income tax (CIT) in application of the dividend received deduction (DRD) (revenus définitivement taxes-definitief belaste inkomsten("RDT/DBI") provided that, among other conditions, the company fulfils the "participation condition": that is, it holds a minimal participation of at least 10% or has an acquisition value of at least €2.5 million.

For this second threshold of a minimal acquisition value of €2.5 million, the Belgian tax legislation now provides that, for "large" companies, the participation held needs to be accounted for as a "financial fixed assets", meaning that participations held as short-term investment will now fall outside the scope of the DRD.

This measure, however, does not apply to those qualifying as "small" companies, within the meaning of art. 2, §1, 5°, c) bis ITC92).

Procedure for CIT and deductions

After adopting an extension of the tax statutes of limitation (up to 10 years in certain cases), the federal government backtracked and retroactively restored previous statutes of limitations (up to seven years maximum). However, the ordinary statute of limitation of three years is increased to four years automatically in case some specific tax regimes are applicable to the taxpayer; for example, in case the company is subject to transfer pricing country-by-country reporting obligations.

Investment deduction

Companies are now allowed to carry forward their investment deduction for an unlimited period of time. Furthermore, the restriction on the annual maximum amount of carried-forward investment deduction that can be offset each year has been removed.

Employee 'expat' regime

Under certain conditions, companies recruiting or hiring abroad have the possibility to grant their inbound employee a lump-sum allowance on top of their ordinary remuneration that will qualify as costs proper to the employer; that is, tax exempt for the employee and tax deductible for the company.

While previously limited to 30%, this lump-sum allowance is now limited to 35% of the ordinary gross remuneration of the employee. Moreover, the federal government decided to abolish the absolute €90.000 cap previously applicable to this allowance.

In order to be eligible for the expat tax regime, the employer will now have to grant a remuneration of at least €70,000 a year to its employee instead of €75,000 previously.

Meal vouchers

The maximum value of meal vouchers increased from €8 to €10. In parallel, the maximum contribution of the employer in the meal voucher has been increased from €6.91 to €8.91, of which €4 is tax deductible for the employer instead of €2 previously.

A new €2 increase (to arrive at meal vouchers with a value of €12) is expected to be adopted in the near future. Meal vouchers, of course, represent a social benefit that remains exempt from taxes and social security contributions for employees when all conditions are met.

Tax simplification

The federal government, in order to simplify the tax return of Belgian taxpayers, has decided to abolish various tax exemptions and tax reductions, including, for example, the allowances for long-distance travel and the employer contribution for the purchase of a private computer.

What's next?

There are still a series of tax measures that have been announced and are currently discussed in the parliament and government – and not in force yet.

• Reduced corporate income tax rate

The Belgian tax legislation provides for a reduced 20% tax CIT rate (vs. ordinary 25% rate) on the first 100.000 EUR of taxable profits of a company provided that certain conditions are met. To benefit from this reduced rate, companies will now have to grant a yearly remuneration of at least 50.000 EUR (to be indexed on an annual basis) to (one of their) directors, versus 45.000 EUR (not subject to indexation) currently.

Moreover, the benefit in kind (subject to a lump sum valuation) granted to such director(s) will have to be limited to 20% of the total remuneration for the reduced CIT rate to be applicable.

• Limitation of in kind remuneration for employees

In line with the abovementioned measure, the benefits in kind (subject to a lump sum valuation) granted to employees by the company will be limited to 20% of their total remuneration. To the extent that this limit is exceeded, the value of the benefits in kind exceeding the limit will be subject to a specific 7.5% tax for the employer.

• New tax on capital gain

This probably the most debated and impactful tax reform Belgian taxpayers will be confronted to in the future. This reform will introduce a general taxation of capital gains on financial assets at a rate up to 10%. Employers granting stock-options and other equity related incentives to their employees should therefore remain attentive to the adoption of this new regime.

Osborne Clarke comment

Despite the broad range of tax measures already adopted to this date, the Belgian federal government appears not to be about to stop its tax reform fever now that it is on such a roll. It has already been a busy year for Belgian companies and their tax arrangements in 2006. Companies will want to continue to keep a close eye on tax developments and any further legislation over the rest of the year and, of course, beyond.

If you would like to discuss any of these or other tax development further, please contact our experts at Osborne Clarke Belgium.