Household tax simulator 2026: how much tax for you as a couple?

How much tax for your household? 2026 examples

Order of magnitude of the tax on 2026 income for a few typical households, with the withholding tax (bedrijfsvoorheffing / précompte professionnel) already deducted over the year. ‘Gets back’: the tax is lower than what was deducted. ‘Pays’: it is higher.

For the couple with two children, the extra tax-free amounts for children (€5,130 for two children) go to the partner with the higher taxable income. In this example, the household would pay about €60.

How household tax is calculated, step by step

1. Each partner’s income. Salaries after social security contributions, minus lump-sum expenses (30%, up to €6,070); self-employed profit after contributions; pensions and benefits, with no expenses; cadastral income from other property.
2. The marital quotient. If one partner earns less than 30% of the couple’s earned income, part of the other’s income is allocated to them, up to €11,780 for 2026 income.
3. Basic tax. Each partner is taxed on their income according to the scale: 25% up to €16,720, 40% up to €29,510, 45% up to €51,070, 50% above.
4. The tax-free amount. The first €11,550 of each partner’s income is not taxed, plus allowances for dependent children. Any part one partner does not use goes to the other.
5. Reductions. Pensions and benefits, pension savings, childcare, donations, service vouchers in Wallonia, an old mortgage loan.
6. Municipal tax. A percentage of the remaining tax, set by your municipality (often around 7%).
7. The balance. The withholding tax already deducted, the fiscal work bonus, the recoverable withholding tax on investment income and advance payments are subtracted.

Married couples or legal cohabitants: marital quotient and transferred tax-free amount

Married couples and legal cohabitants file a joint tax return, but each is taxed on their own income. Two mechanisms help couples where one partner earns little or nothing.

The marital quotient

It allocates part of the other partner’s earned income to the partner who earns less: 30% of the couple’s income, minus their own income, up to €11,780 for 2026 income. The reform passed in July 2026 lowers this ceiling every year, until 2029 income (tax year 2030).

The unused tax-free amount

If one partner’s taxable income is lower than their tax-free amount, the difference is added to the other partner’s tax-free amount (Article 134, § 4, of the Income Tax Code). Example: €20,000 of income for one partner only. The marital quotient allocates €6,000 of it to the other, who therefore only uses €6,000 of their €11,550 tax-free amount. The remaining €5,550 is added to the first partner’s tax-free amount, which rises to €17,100.

The simulator applies these two rules automatically. De facto cohabitants (unmarried partners, not legally cohabiting): each files their own return, like a single person.

Pensions, unemployment, sickness: the tax reduction for replacement income

Pensions and benefits are taxed like salaries, but they give entitlement to a tax reduction. For 2026 income, after the reform: €2,182.06 for pensions and unemployment, €2,959.25 for sickness and invalidity benefits. These amounts are forecasts published before the reform was voted; they will be confirmed by FPS Finance.

• Pro rata. If you also have other income, the reduction is proportional to the share of pensions or benefits in your income.
• No tax up to €20,110. A person whose only income is a pension pays no tax up to this taxable income, thanks to an additional reduction. It decreases between €20,110 and about €29,490.
• Higher income. The reduction falls gradually above about €29,490, to a third at around €58,980. For pensions, it disappears above €70,570 of taxable income, from 2026 income.
• Unemployment. The reform gradually abolishes the reduction for unemployment benefits from 2026 income, until it disappears for 2029 income. Its exact amount for 2026 has not been published yet: Indexo applies the basic reduction, without the additional reduction, and says so.

Property and investment income

Cadastral income

The home you live in is exempt: you do not declare its cadastral income. For a second home or a property let to a private individual, the tax is on the indexed cadastral income, increased by 40%. For 2026 income, the indexation coefficient is 2.3: a cadastral income of €1,000 gives €3,220 of taxable income, added to your other income.

Dividends and savings

The withholding tax on investment income (roerende voorheffing / précompte mobilier) deducted by the bank is usually final: you do not have to declare anything. Two exceptions earn you money:

• Dividends: the 30% withholding tax deducted from the first €833 of dividends can be recovered in your tax return, i.e. up to €249.90 per person.
• Regulated savings: the first €1,020 of interest is exempt per person; above that, the bank deducts 15%.

What the simulator does not calculate yet

• the adjustment of the special social security contribution, which also appears on the tax assessment notice (aanslagbiljet / avertissement-extrait de rôle);
• foreign income, maintenance payments, actual expenses (see Actual expenses or lump sum?);
• the tax increase for the self-employed when no advance payments are made;
• the specific marital quotient for pensioner couples;
• the split between federal tax and regional surcharges, which does not change the total.

The results will be compared with FPS Finance’s official simulator (Tax-Calc) as soon as its version for tax year 2027 is available. If you only want to know whether you will get a refund on a salary, the Tax refund or tax to pay tool is enough.

Frequently asked questions

What next?

• Tax refund or tax to pay?For a single salary: what you will get back on your 2026 income.
• Tax return assistantThe amounts on your 281 forms, in the right Tax-on-web code.
• Understanding the tax assessment noticeEvery amount in the calculation you receive from FPS Finance.
• Year-end tax checklistWhat still reduces your tax, to do before 31 December.