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Understand · Payroll glossary

What is overtime?

Updated on

Overtime is the hours worked beyond your normal timetable; paid with an overtime premium, it gives entitlement to a reduction in withholding tax (bedrijfsvoorheffing / précompte professionnel). In 2026: 180 hours (hours with an overtime premium giving entitlement to the withholding tax reduction, all sectors (57.75% or 66.81% of the base pay for those hours)). In Dutch: overuren.

Definition of overtime

An ordinary overtime hour is paid with a statutory overtime premium of 50% (100% on Sundays and public holidays) and gives entitlement to compensatory rest. On 180 hours a year, withholding tax is reduced by an amount equal to 57.75% of the base pay for those hours, when the premium is 50% or 100%.

Voluntary overtime is paid with no overtime premium, but free of contributions and withholding tax, up to 240 hours a year (360 in hotels and catering).

The key figure in 2026

180 hoursHours with an overtime premium giving entitlement to the withholding tax reduction, all sectors (57.75% or 66.81% of the base pay for those hours)

Source: Act of 15 July 2026: 180 overtime hours with a withholding tax reduction, Belgian Official Gazette. Value in force on 1 October 2026.

Worked example

You work 10 overtime hours, paid €20 an hour with a 50% premium: €300 gross. The withholding tax reduction is 57.75% of the base pay for those hours (€200), i.e. €115.50 less withholding tax. The same 10 hours as net voluntary overtime would bring in €200, gross = net.

In Dutch: overuren

On a Dutch-language payslip (loonbrief), overtime is called ‘overuren’; on a French-language one (fiche de paie), ‘heures supplémentaires’. On Indexo’s English pages: overtime.

Dutch term taken from: CSC/ACV (secondary source).

Not to be confused with…

  • Net voluntary overtime: no overtime premium or compensatory rest, but no contributions or tax either: a separate scheme, by written agreement.
  • Withholding tax (bedrijfsvoorheffing / précompte professionnel): an advance on your tax, deducted from your salary every month by your employer and paid to FPS Finance.

Calculate it for your situation

The net pay from an hour of net voluntary overtime (240 hours a year) or from an hour with a premium and withholding tax reduction, depending on your salary.

Overtime: how much net?

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.