Belgium’s expat tax regime in 2026: who qualifies and what you gain

What changed in 2025

Belgium replaced its old expat regime (a 1983 circular) with a statutory regime on 1 January 2022: the special tax regime for inbound taxpayers (bijzonder belastingstelsel voor ingekomen belastingplichtigen, BBIB / régime spécial d’imposition des contribuables impatriés, RSII) and for inbound researchers (RSICI / BBIO). The old regime ended on 31 December 2023. The Act of 18 December 2025 (Belgian Official Gazette of 30 December 2025) then relaxed the new regime, with effect for pay granted from 1 January 2025.

The €70,000 threshold may be indexed by royal decree every three years. Indexo has found no indexation decree: an indexed amount for 2026 is to be confirmed.

Who qualifies

• Recruited abroad or seconded. You were recruited directly abroad by a Belgian company, the Belgian establishment of a foreign company or a Belgian association, or you are seconded to one of them by a foreign company of the same multinational group.
• No recent link with Belgium. During the 60 months before you start, you did not live in Belgium, did not live within 150 km of the Belgian border, and had no Belgian professional income taxed as a non-resident. Lille, Maastricht or Aachen, for example, are all within 150 km.
• Pay above the threshold. Inbound taxpayers must earn more than €70,000 gross per calendar year for their work in Belgium, before social security. The amount is prorated in the year you arrive and the year you leave. Severance payments and the tax-free costs themselves do not count.
• Company directors can qualify as inbound taxpayers, but not (co-)founders or those holding more than 30% of the company’s capital.
• Researchers have no pay threshold. They spend at least 80% of their working time on research, hold a master’s degree or doctorate in a STEM field, or have 10 years of equivalent experience. Directors are excluded from this regime.
• Nationality does not matter.

What you get

• A tax-free allowance for the recurring extra costs of working in Belgium, up to 35% of your gross pay, paid on top of your gross salary. Since 2025, there is no annual cap for tax.
• One-off costs on top, against receipts: moving to Belgium, furnishing your home in the first six months (capped; the indexed 2026 cap is to be confirmed) and school fees for your children in Belgium.
• Taxed as a resident. The regime does not make you a non-resident: if you live in Belgium, you declare your worldwide income, investment income included, in your Belgian tax return.

Worked example: same budget, with and without the regime

Your employer budgets €9,100 a month for you. Without the regime, all of it is gross salary. With it, the contract splits the same budget into a lower gross salary and a tax-free allowance. The circular uses this method in its own example (point 21): the allowance is a percentage of the gross salary, excluding the allowance itself. Indexo uses 30%, the share that both the tax authorities and social security accepted as exempt in the first quarter of 2026.

With the regime, you receive €1,251.13 more a month (€15,014 over twelve months). Your employer also pays less social security: about €1,750.00 a month instead of €2,275.00, at the basic rate of 25%.

Two things to weigh. First, a lower gross salary also lowers what is calculated on it: holiday pay, the 13th month, your statutory pension, and some benefits and supplementary pension plans. Second, the tax-free share can go up to 35%, but according to Deloitte and SD Worx the extra 5% remains subject to social security until further notice; Indexo does not calculate that case.

How to apply

1. 1. Your employer applies within three months

   The application is made by your employer (or the company, for a director), within 3 months of your first day of work in Belgium. The deadline is strict: a late application is rejected. It goes by email to impatriates@minfin.fed.be or through MyMinfin (service code 754), as a single PDF.

2. 2. With the required documents

   The employment contract (or director’s mandate or secondment letter), a detailed calculation of your annual gross pay and your own signed statement are mandatory; an incomplete application is inadmissible. Proof of secondment is needed if you come from a group company abroad.

3. 3. A decision within three months

   FPS Finance decides within 3 months of receiving the application. If it agrees, the regime applies from your first day of work in Belgium.

4. 4. Extension after five years

   To keep the regime for three more years, your employer applies again within three months after the first five years. A change of employer has its own rules; since 2025, it is assessed under the new conditions.

The regime ends after five years (eight with the extension), or earlier if a condition is no longer met, for instance if your pay falls below the threshold. After that, the flat allowance is no longer tax-free.

Past deadlines: people who started between 1 January 2025 and 9 January 2026 with pay between €70,000 and €75,000 could apply late, until 9 April 2026; existing contracts could be amended retroactively within three months of the circular of 1 April 2026. Both windows have closed.

Still to be confirmed

• Social security after the first quarter of 2026. Indexo has not been able to read the NSSO’s instructions for later quarters: ask your employer’s social secretariat (payroll provider) which percentage and cap it applies.
• Indexation of the €70,000 threshold by royal decree: none found.
• The indexed cap on furnishing costs for 2026.

This page is information, not tax advice. FPS Finance decides on each application.

Frequently asked questions

What next?

• Your net salary on arrivalWorked examples without the regime.
• Your payslip explainedWhere the allowance appears on your payslip.
• First-year checklistThe other steps of your first year.
• Employer cost calculatorWhat a salary costs your employer.