Law of 18 December 2025 containing various tax provisions: measures highlighted

1. Elimination of federal benefits in real estate taxation

The federal interest deduction for loans to acquire or maintain a property (other than the main residence) is removed. This deletion applies from tax year 2026 and also targets existing loans.

Also abolished:

• Federal home bonus;

• Federal reduction for additional interest;

• Federal tax reduction for housing savings;

• Tax reduction for interest on green loans.

2. More attractive expat regime

The tax regime for so‑called incoming taxpayers and researchers is made more attractive by:

• Increasing the employer’s cost allowance from 30% to 35% of gross annual salary;

• Abolishing the maximum ceiling of € 90,000;

• Reducing the minimum gross salary from € 75,000 to € 70,000.

These relaxations apply to remuneration paid or granted from 1 January 2025.

3. Flexi‑Job: increased ceiling

For non‑retired flexi‑job workers, the tax‑free additional earnings ceiling is increased to € 18,000 (from income year 2025).

4. Maintenance payments: gradual reduction of deductibility

The deductibility of paid maintenance payments is phased down: from the current 80% to 70% in 2025, 60% in 2026, and 50% in 2027. The taxable portion for the recipient of the maintenance payments is adjusted accordingly.

In addition, the deduction for maintenance payments is only accepted if the recipient is a resident of the EEA (= EU + Liechtenstein, Norway, and Iceland) or Switzerland.

5. Dependents: stricter conditions

Various changes are introduced for dependents from tax year 2026:

• The maximum amount of net means for children (to still be considered dependent) is set at € 12,000 for all children (regardless of the parents’ living situation) (amount for tax year 2026).

• Persons who earn professional income whose costs are deductible for the taxpayer can no longer be considered dependents by that taxpayer.

• Recipients of a social integration income can no longer be considered dependents.

• Scholarships will only not count as means of existence if they do not lead to the accrual of social security rights.

6. Freezing indexation of certain tax expenditures

The indexation of a number of federal tax expenditures is frozen through tax year 2030 (at the level of tax year 2025).

7. Tax credit for growth of own resources (sole proprietorship)

From tax year 2026, the tax credit for own resources in personal income tax is doubled:

• Rate: from 10% to 20%;

• Ceiling: from € 3,750 to € 7,500.

8. Simplification of the tax return

The legislator removes various tax regimes and tax reductions, such as:

• Exemption for social liabilities in connection with the unified status (for salaries granted after 30/09/2025);

• Tax reduction for capital losses in connection with the full distribution of the corporate assets of a private equity company;

• Tax reduction for employment of household staff;

• Tax reduction for legal expenses insurance;

• Exemption for capital gains on company vehicles (for gains after 31/08/2025).

• The tax reduction for donations decreases from 45% to 30% (from tax year 2026).

9. Meal vouchers: higher employer contribution

The allowed employer contribution for meal vouchers (granted from 1/1/2026) is increased from €6.91 to €8.91. The deductible portion is also increased from € 2 to € 4 per meal voucher, provided the employer pays the maximum amount of €8.91.

10. Changes in car taxation

• A new tax deductibility scheme is introduced for plug‑in hybrid cars purchased from 1 January 2026, exclusively in personal income tax.

• In addition, the legislator (both in personal income tax and corporate tax) has adjusted the definition of a “false” plug‑in hybrid car to take into account the new Euro 6e‑bis standard.

  • More specifically, a plug‑in hybrid car under the Euro 6e‑bis norm (or a later norm) is classified as a false plug‑in if it is equipped with an electric battery that has an energy capacity of less than 0.5 kWh per 100 kilograms of vehicle weight or emits CO2 of more than 75 grams (instead of 50 grams) per kilometer.

11. Investment deduction: adjustments

The investment deduction is adjusted and clarified in several respects:

• For investments from 1/1/2025, there is no longer a time limit on the carryover of the basic deduction.

• The rate of the increased thematic deduction is raised from 30% to 40% for large corporations.

12. DBI (or DRD) deduction: possible on group contributions

From tax year 2026, the DBI/DRD deduction is also possible on group contributions a company receives from a related group entity. This provides more flexibility for internal loss compensation.

13. DBI investment funds: stricter regulation

DBI investment funds and similar investment or real estate companies are more strictly regulated:

• A separate 5% tax is imposed on previously exempt realized capital gains.

• The offset of withholding tax on received dividends is limited if the minimum remuneration condition is not met.

14. Second pillar pension

• From 1 July 2027, a supplementary solidarity contribution of 2% will be levied on second pillar pension benefits on the part of total capital that exceeds € 150,000 (amount indexed).

• From 2026, the rate of the Wijninckx contribution is drastically increased, namely from 3% to 12.5%.

15. Assessment and audit periods

The earlier extension of the assessment and audit periods is largely reversed (retroactively from tax year 2023):

• The 10‑year fraud period is reduced back to 7 years, for both income taxes and VAT.

• The retention period for books and records is also reduced to 7 years.

• The 6‑year period for semi‑complex returns and the 10‑year period for complex returns are eliminated.

• The 4‑year period for cases of non‑ or late filing is retained and expanded to complex returns.

16. CAP: expansion

In the context of the fight against tax fraud, the tax authorities will soon also have access to the Central Point of Contact (CAP) of the National Bank of Belgium for the application and control of the annual tax on securities accounts.

At the same time, the legislator has provided for an expansion of the scope of the CAP: accounts related to crypto assets must also be reported.

In addition, steps have already been taken with the Law on Various Provisions to make data mining on the CAP possible.