Understand · Payroll glossary
What is gross salary?
Updated on
Gross salary is the amount set in your contract, before any deduction: it is the starting point of your payslip. In 2026: €2,233.61 (gross minimum wage of a full-time worker aged 18 and over (guaranteed average minimum monthly income), since 1 July 2026). In Dutch: brutoloon.
Definition of gross salary
Gross salary is the pay agreed with your employer for a month’s work, before social security contributions and withholding tax (bedrijfsvoorheffing / précompte professionnel). It includes the base salary and, where applicable, bonuses, overtime and paid public holidays.
Social security contributions (13.07%) are calculated first on gross pay, then the tax withheld at source. Your employer also pays its own contributions, which are not included in gross pay.
The key figure in 2026
Source: RMMG national : montants en vigueur, Securex (secondary source). 2027 amount: not yet published. This entry will be updated as soon as it is.
Worked example
A single white-collar worker with no children, paid €3,000 gross a month: here is the path to net pay, calculated by Indexo’s engine with the parameters in force on 1 October 2026.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | €3,000.00 |
| Social security contributions | −€392.10 |
| Work bonus | €110.54 |
| Taxable pay | €2,718.44 |
| Withholding tax | −€474.50 |
| Fiscal work bonus | €36.63 |
| Special social security contribution | −€19.24 |
| Net per month | €2,261.33 |
€2,261.33 reaches your account, or 75.4% of gross pay.
In Dutch: brutoloon
On a Dutch-language payslip (loonbrief), gross salary is called ‘brutoloon’; on a French-language one (fiche de paie), ‘salaire brut’. On Indexo’s English pages: gross salary.
Dutch term taken from: CSC/ACV (secondary source).
Not to be confused with…
- Net salary: what actually reaches your account, once social security contributions, withholding tax and the special contribution have been deducted.
- Employment cost: gross pay plus employer contributions: at €3,000 gross, about €3,750.00 a month for the employer, excluding holiday pay and bonus.
Calculate it for your situation
Net pay from 2,000 to €10,000 gross, white-collar and blue-collar, by family situation.
Related terms
- Net salaryFrom gross to net · in Dutch: nettoloon
- Taxable payFrom gross to net · in Dutch: belastbaar loon
- NSSOFrom gross to net · in Dutch: RSZ (Rijksdienst voor Sociale Zekerheid)
- Employer social security contributionsFrom gross to net · in Dutch: werkgeversbijdrage
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.
- Instructions administratives : les cotisations de sécurité sociale, NSSO. Cross-checked with: UCM, Securex and the FEB (via the Walloon Public Service) for the basic employer rate in the private sector: 19.88% basic contribution and 5.12% wage moderation contribution, making 25%.
- Calcul du précompte professionnel : annexe III de l’AR/CIR 92 et formule-clé 2026, FPS Finance.
- Loonbrief onder de loep 2026 (Dutch-language payslip guide), CSC/ACV (secondary source).