Skip to content
EN
Indexo Pro

Understand · Payroll glossary

What are actual professional expenses?

Updated on

Actual expenses are your documented professional expenses, which you can deduct instead of the lump sum if they are higher. In 2026: €0.15 per km (actual expenses: commuting by car, flat rate per kilometre). In Dutch: werkelijke beroepskosten.

Definition of actual professional expenses

These are the expenses you incur to earn your income: travel between home and work, a home office, equipment, training… You must be able to prove them.

For travel, flat rates per kilometre exist: €0.15 by car, €0.37 by bicycle (2026 income). Actual expenses are only worthwhile if they exceed the statutory lump sum.

The key figure in 2026

€0.15 per kmActual expenses: commuting by car, flat rate per kilometre

Source: Verdissement fiscal de la mobilité : forfait de 0,15 € par kilomètre (question 9), FPS Finance, circular 2024/C/50, FAQ (as reproduced by Forum for the Future) (secondary source). Value in force on 1 October 2026.

Worked example

25 km between your home and work, by car, 210 days a year: 25 × 2 × 210 × €0.15 = €1,575.00. Lower than the lump sum of €6,070 on a salary of €3,000: the lump sum remains more advantageous, unless you have other large expenses.

In Dutch: werkelijke beroepskosten

On a Dutch-language tax return, tax assessment notice (aanslagbiljet) or letter from the tax authorities, actual professional expenses are called ‘werkelijke beroepskosten’; on French-language ones, ‘frais professionnels réels’.

Dutch term taken from: FPS Finance.

Not to be confused with…

  • Lump-sum professional expenses: the part of your income that the tax authorities automatically treat as professional expenses, without proof: 30%, up to €6,070 a year in 2026.

Calculate it for your situation

Do your proven professional expenses (commuting, office, equipment) beat the 30% lump sum, capped at €6,070?

Actual expenses or lump sum?

Related terms

Sources

Parameters in force on 1 October 2026. Each parameter links to its source, the official one where it exists; a secondary source is flagged as such.