Belgium

Click here for more Europe Links and Resources

FITA helps you find
service providers for:

Business Environment

Business Practices

General information: Kwintessential Croos Cultural solutions
Executive planet Belgium
Opening hours and days: Banks and Public administrations: from 9.00 to 16.00, Monday to Friday.
Retailers: from 09.00 to 18.00, Monday to Friday but some close on Monday in the morning.
Supermarkets are open from 09.00 to 20.00, Monday to Saturday.
Workers usually work 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week.

Public holidays

New Year	January 1-st
Easter Monday	Mobile holiday in April
Labor Day	May 1-st
Ascension	Mobile holiday May
Whit monday	Mobile holiday May
Flemish community celebration	July 11
National holiday	July 21
Assumption	August 15
French community celebration	September 27
All Saints' Day	November 1
Armistice	November 11
November 15	German community celebration
Christmas	December 25

Periods when companies usually close

Summer vacations	15 July- 15 August
Easter Holidays	April

Accounting Rules

Tax year: From the 1st of January to the 31st of December.
Accounting standards: Plan Comptable Minimum Normalisé (PCMN: only in French) or the Minimun Standardized Accounting Plan. Download this accounting plan (only available in French).
Accounting regulation bodies: Commission of the countable standards in Belgium
Institute of Chartered Accountants
Accounting reports: Belgian accounting principles are promulgated by: the law of July 17, 1975, royal decrees and the recommendations of the Accounting principles Committee.
Publication requirements: All Belgian companies have to present to shareholders an annual account according to a standard form; a complete plan for big companies and an abbreviated one for Small and Medium-Sized Companies.
This annual account must include: the balance sheet, the profit and loss account and the appendix.
The Brussels stock market allows companies to publish their accounts by referring to the IASC (International Accounting Standards Committee) norms.
The Belgian companies whose capital is foreign may also follow the IASC norms.
Professional accountancy bodies: Institute of Chartered Accountants and tax advice
The corporate auditors
Certification and auditing: Ernst&Young, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Accounting news: Ernst&Young

Tax Rates

Consumption taxes

Nature of the tax: VAT (value added tax)
Tax rate: 21% for main items
Reduced tax rate: Between 6 and 12 %. 7% on special goods (like TV service, social estate, etc), 6% on first necessity goods (like transport, food, medicine, art, papers and books, etc).
For further information consult Flanders investments and trade.
Other consumption taxes: Excise on: alcohol. tobacco, patrol, luxurious goods, gas, coffee and tea, etc.

Corporate taxes

Company tax: 33%, increased by a 3% surcharge (33.99%).
Tax rate for foreign companies: The standard corporate income tax rate is 33.99% (including an austerity surcharge of 3%).
Capital gains taxation: In principle, capital gains are taxable upon realization. As an exception to this rule, realized capital gains on shares are free of taxes.

With effect from assessment year 2007, all capital gains will only be considered on a "net" basis for Belgian tax purposes. Unrealized capital gains can be temporarily exempted from taxes, subject to conditions.
Main allowable deductions and tax credit: Regarding specific charges that are deducted from the corporate revenue, please refer to the website of the Ministry of Economy as it is depending on the state where your corporate is situated.

Deduction of the Income Tax base: disallowed expenses, exempt foreign income, dividends-received deduction, notional interest deduction, both distributed and retained profits are subject to corporate income tax, tax losses carried forward, investment deduction, patent income deduction.

Individual taxes

Tax rate

Income tax is withheld at source:	from 25 to 50%
From 0 to 7,560 EUR	25%
From 7,561 to 10,760 EUR	30%
From 10,761 to 17,920 EUR	40%
From 17,921 to 32,860 EUR	45%
Over 32,860 EUR	50%

Allowable deductions and tax credit: Consult the website GEOFISC association.
Special expatriate tax regime: An expatriate working in Belgium will typically be liable to Belgian income tax. Additionally, property tax, gift and succession duty may also be relevant. Residents of Belgium pay personal income tax on their total income from all worldwide sources on a sliding scale.
Residents also pay communal and regional taxes at rates between 0 and 8.5 percent of the total income tax payable.

The special expatriate tax status also offers two important tax advantages to foreign executives: the “tax-free expatriation allowances” and the “travel exclusion”. Consult Deloitte tax guide for more information.

Double taxation treaties

Countries with whom a double taxation treaty have been signed: See the list of the double Taxation Treaties
Whithholding taxes: Dividends: 25%, Interest: 15%, Royalties: 15%

Sources of fiscal information

Tax Authorities: Tax Administration
Other domestic resources: All useful links including tax official entity.
Flanders Investment and Trade

Intellectual Property

National organizations: Office for intellectual property (OPRI)
Regional organizations: The European patent office and the Office for harmonization in the internal market
International membership: Member of the WIPO
Signatory to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Intellectual Property
Membership to the TRIPS agreement - Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

National regulation and international agreements

Type of property and law	Validity	International agreements signed
Patent National law	20 years	Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Strasbourg agreement concerning the International Patent Classification
Trademark Trademark Law	10 years renewable if they are put on the market within 5 years.	Trademark law treaty Nice agreement Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement
Design Belgian law	Maximum 25 years
Copyright Belgian law	70 years from the death of the author	Berne convention Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms against unauthorized duplication of their phonograms Rome convention for the protection of performers, producers of phonograms and Broadcasting organizations WIPO copyright treaty WIPO performances and Phonograms treaty
Industrial Models Beneluw law	5 years (can be renewed twice).

Legal Framework

Independence of justice: The judiciary is independent in Belgium.
Equal treatment of nationals and foreigners: Foreign nationals in the country can expect to a large extent a free and fair trial from the judiciary, though certain degree of racial and ethnic intolerance exists in the society. Corruption is limited in Belgium
The language of justice: All depends in which city and which region you will be. It can be French, Flamish or German.
Recourse to an interpreter: It is recommended to ask your embassy/consulate in order to get a list of interpreters recognized by Belgium government.
Sources of the law and legal similarities: The judicial system is based on civil law and originates from the Napoleonic code, the Civil code (only available in French); the Constitution.
For further information consult the website of the Belgium Law.
Checking national laws online: Federal ministry of justice

Standards

National standards organizations: Belgium Institute of standardization
Integration in the international standards network: At the European level: the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute.
At the international level: the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
Classification of standards: CE is the European certification mark.
Online consultation of standards: The ISO catalog
Certification organizations: The Belgium institute of standardization

Any comments about this content? Report it to us.