Understand · Payroll glossary
What is net salary?
Updated on
Net salary is what actually reaches your account, once social security contributions, withholding tax (bedrijfsvoorheffing / précompte professionnel) and the special contribution have been deducted. In Dutch: nettoloon.
Definition of net salary
For an employee, net pay is obtained by deducting from gross pay the social security contributions (less the work bonus), withholding tax and the special social security contribution. Then come the lines that are not taxed: the employee share of meal vouchers is deducted, and reimbursed travel expenses are added.
A month’s net pay is not your final income: the exact tax is calculated the following year, and the difference from the withholding tax deducted is refunded to you or claimed from you.
Worked example
Net pay does not follow gross pay in a straight line: the work bonus helps low wages, then progressive tax takes a growing share.
| Gross | Net | Net as % of gross |
|---|---|---|
| €2,000 | €1,962.14 | 98.1% |
| €2,500 | €2,175.62 | 87% |
| €3,000 | €2,261.33 | 75.4% |
| €4,000 | €2,614.26 | 65.4% |
| €5,000 | €3,051.72 | 61% |
In Dutch: nettoloon
On a Dutch-language payslip (loonbrief), net salary is called ‘nettoloon’ or ‘netto’; on a French-language one (fiche de paie), ‘salaire net’ or ‘net’. In English: net salary.
Dutch term taken from: CSC/ACV (secondary source).
Not to be confused with…
- Provisional net pay: the payslip line before the employee share of meal vouchers and expenses: on the CSC/ACV payslip for December 2026, €2,261.49 of provisional net pay becomes €2,292.29 paid out.
- Taxable pay: your gross pay minus employee social security contributions: it is the base on which withholding tax is calculated.
Calculate it for your situation
Gross-to-net salary calculation in Belgium
Related terms
- Gross salaryFrom gross to net · in Dutch: brutoloon
- Withholding taxFrom gross to net · in Dutch: bedrijfsvoorheffing
- Special social security contributionFrom gross to net · in Dutch: bijzondere bijdrage voor de sociale zekerheid
- Employee share of meal vouchersBonuses, holiday pay and benefits · in Dutch: persoonlijke bijdrage maaltijdcheques
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.
- Fiche de salaire à la loupe 2026, CSC/ACV (secondary source).
- 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).