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Self-employed · Calculate and plan

Invoicing without being self-employed: which options, and what they do not do

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In Belgium, a regular and organised activity in principle requires a status: self-employed, or someone’s employee. Smart, social offices for artists and business and employment cooperatives let you invoice ‘under their roof’; platforms such as Paddle, Lemon Squeezy or Gumroad sell on your behalf abroad, but give you no status.

The options side by side

PlanWho it’s forWhat it doesWhat remains your responsibilityWhat it costs
Smart (cooperative)Everyone, as a main occupation or not, except a few professionsInvoices your client and pays you a salary: you are Smart’s employee for those daysTax on this salary, with your other income6.5% of receipts, then the employer contributions and your own
Social office for artistsArtists and performing arts techniciansHires you as an employee for an assignment, like a temping agencyTax on this salaryFees specific to each office
Business and employment cooperative, business incubatorJobseeker preparing an activity as a main occupationLets you test your project while keeping your benefitsSwitching to self-employed status at the end of the testDepends on the structure
Sharing economyPrivate individual providing services to other private individualsThe approved platform withholds tax at 10.70%Stay below €7,890 a year, together with associative workThe platform’s commission
Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Gumroad, FastSpringAnyone selling software or digital productsSells on your behalf to the end customer, collects payment and pays over its VATYour self-employed status, your tax, your Belgian VAT towards the platformA commission per sale
Options for collecting income from an activity without being self-employed yourself, 2026 rules. Sources: operators’ websites (rates read on 20 October 2026), NISSE, Forem, Jobyourself and secondary sources cited at the bottom of the page.

Smart

You enter your activity, Smart invoices your client and pays you a salary with an employment contract for the days worked. On each invoice, Smart withholds a contribution of 6.5% of the amount excluding VAT. The rest, minus your expenses, forms the ‘employment budget’: it pays your gross salary and the employer contributions. The gross salary is this budget divided by 1.55 (1.57 for artistic work, 1.09 for a student).

Example: for €1,000 invoiced with no expenses, Smart withholds €65.00, and the gross salary is about €603.23. For a single white-collar worker earning €3,000 gross, about €299.95 net is left after contributions and the year’s tax.

The contribution also finances accident-at-work insurance, professional liability insurance and a payment guarantee if a client defaults. The payment period and the amount of the guarantee fund are not published. We could not check whether Smart is approved as a social office for artists.

Compare Smart and self-employment as a secondary occupation for your receipts.

Social offices for artists

A social office for artists, approved by the Arts Work Commission (Commission du travail des arts / Kunstwerkcommissie), hires the artist as an employee for an assignment and invoices the client. We could not read the official 2026 list of approved offices, or their fees: check it on the Working in the Arts website.

For small artistic assignments, the amateur arts allowance also lets you be paid €81.90 a day per client, 30 days a year, with no tax or contributions, after registering on Working in the Arts.

Business and employment cooperatives and business incubators

They are aimed at jobseekers receiving benefits who are preparing a self-employed activity as a main occupation: you test your project, you invoice through the cooperative, and you keep your benefits during the test.

  • Wallonia: exemption granted by Forem for a prospective entrepreneur in a business and employment cooperative, subject to conditions on the benefits received before joining.
  • Brussels: Jobyourself, a test of 18 months while keeping your unemployment benefits or CPAS/OCMW support.

They are not suitable for an employee looking for extra income: for them, the options are secondary occupation status or Smart.

Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Gumroad, FastSpring

These platforms act as the official seller (merchant of record): they sell your software, your course or your digital product in their own name to the end customer, anywhere in the world, collect the payment, calculate and pay over the VAT of the customer’s country, and handle refunds and fraud. You are paid by the platform, minus its commission.

PlatformCommitteeEnd customer’s VAT
Paddle5% + $0.50 per transactionCollected and paid over by Paddle, which resells your product
Lemon Squeezy5% + $0.50 per transaction, small extra fees outside the United StatesCollected and paid over by Lemon Squeezy
Gumroad10% + $0.50 (30% for a sale through Discover)Collected and paid over by Gumroad since 1 January 2025
FastSpringOn quotation, depending on volumeCollected and paid over by FastSpring
Commissions published on the operators’ websites, read on 20 October 2026. They may change: check before you commit.

What they do not do for you

  • Your status: regularly selling products you create in order to sell them is in principle a professional activity. You need self-employed status (as a secondary occupation if your job allows it), registration with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE) and a social insurance fund. No Belgian source deals specifically with these platforms: these are the general rules.
  • Your tax: the platform’s payments are business profits or professional income to be declared; its commission is a professional expense if you deduct your actual expenses.
  • Your VAT towards the platform: you sell to the platform, which is a business. Depending on its country, this is in principle without Belgian VAT (outside the European Union) or under the reverse charge (within the Union, with an intra-Community statement, even under the exemption scheme). The exact treatment depends on the contract: we do not know for certain whether these sales count towards the €25,000 threshold of the exemption scheme. Check with an accountant before acting.
  • Peppol: it covers only invoices between businesses established in Belgium, so not those addressed to these platforms.

To find out what you will keep, enter the platform’s commission in the calculation for the self-employed as a secondary occupation.

What about a truly occasional sale?

Truly occasional income, without organisation or frequent transactions, is miscellaneous income, taxed at 33% plus the municipal tax, with no social security contributions. There is no set threshold, and a permanent online shop or regularly sold courses are not occasional.

Frequently asked questions

Can I sell on Paddle or Gumroad without being self-employed?

For a truly one-off sale, possibly, as miscellaneous income. For a regular activity, no: the platform handles the sale and the customer’s VAT, not your status. You need self-employed status, often as a secondary occupation.

Is Smart a self-employed status?

No: through Smart, you are an employee of the cooperative for the days worked, with an employment contract and an employee’s contributions.

Does Gumroad handle VAT?

Yes, since 1 January 2025, Gumroad has collected and paid over your customers’ consumption taxes. Your own Belgian tax situation remains your responsibility.

Is a business and employment cooperative for me?

Only if you are a jobseeker preparing a main activity. For extra income alongside a job, see secondary occupation status or Smart.

What next?

The whole Self-employed section

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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.