Belgium · Tax regime
Special tax regime for inpatriate taxpayers and researchers
The regime introduced on 1 January 2022 remains the operative law: 30% of gross remuneration free of tax and social security, capped at EUR 90,000 a year, with a minimum gross salary of EUR 75,000. Reports that this becomes 35% with the cap removed and the threshold cut to EUR 70,000 stem from coalition-level agreement and are NOT confirmed as enacted — treat as proposed.
The 2022 regime replaced a far more generous 1983 circular under which many long-standing expats had been treated as non-resident indefinitely. The new version is time-limited, capped, and — unlike its predecessor — leaves the beneficiary a full Belgian tax resident, which now means the new 10% capital gains tax and the securities account tax apply to them in full.
The facts
- Qualifying figure
- €75k
- Total landed cost
- No cost to apply; worth up to EUR 90,000 a year of tax-free and social-security-free reimbursement
- Timeline
- 1–3 months — Employer application within 3 months of the employee starting work — the deadline is strict and missing it forfeits the regime
- Physical presence
- Must not have been Belgian resident, or lived within 150km of the Belgian border, or been subject to Belgian non-resident income tax on professional income, in the 60 months before arrival
- Family
- employee only
- Permanent residency
- 5 years of legal residence for EU long-term resident status
- Citizenship
- 5 years of main residence with integration conditions
- Language test
- A2 in Dutch, French or German
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- recruited from abroad or transferred within a groupnot Belgian resident, not living within 150km of the border, and not subject to Belgian non-resident professional income tax in the 60 months before arrivalminimum gross annual remuneration of EUR 75,000 (waived for researchers, who face a qualification test instead)employer application within 3 months of commencement
- The 3-month application deadline is unforgiving. This is the most common way the regime is lost.
- Maximum 5 years plus a single 3-year extension — 8 years total, then full Belgian taxation with no transition.
- Beneficiaries are Belgian tax residents. The regime shelters part of the salary, nothing else: worldwide investment income, the new capital gains tax and the securities account tax all apply.
- The 35% / no-cap / EUR 70,000 changes are widely reported but PwC's significant-developments tracker does not record them as enacted. Verify current law before relying on any of those figures.
- Belgian inheritance tax is among the world's harshest — up to 55–80% for non-direct heirs depending on region. For a family with unconventional succession plans this can overwhelm every income tax consideration.