You must file taxes in Belgium no matter your job, occupation, or activities. The International House hosts a yearly online webinar during tax season where tax consultants are invited to come and speak about the general how and where to file your taxes.
Who needs to file their taxes?
Everyone over the age of 18. Including: students, salaried employees, retirees, unemployed, and non-residents.
Students
Every student, international or not, needs to file their taxes. International students are considered to be Belgian tax residents, whether you worked and gained a small sum or not. Just because you are required to file your taxes does not mean that you will owe anything in taxes, the only case where you will owe taxes is if any income that you earned exceed the taxable threshold.
Students can follow the advice below in the section on Belgian residents. If you a doctoral student, you can find more helpful information here.
Belgian residents
There are two options when filing your taxes, you can fill out the paper version sent to your home address by mail or file them using the online tool Tax on Web.
- Filing taxes by paper: if you receive a brown envelope in the mail you can file your taxes using the enclosed papers. Once everything is filled out properly you can mail the envelope, by the end of June, back the return address.
Filing taxes online: If you need to declare an income then filing your taxes online is much simpler and quicker, compared to the paper version. Tax-on-web is available starting at the beginning of May and you can log on using your E-ID or via itsme. One reason why tax-on-web is much less complicated is that some of your information is already filled in, based on your personal data and income information that the tax authorities are already aware of. For that section you simply need to check what is correct and fix or add what is not. There is also a wizard, which estimates the amount you will have to pay or how much you will receive back. (Another plus side is that you can use an online translator, if you're stuck with the Dutch/French).
The deadline for filing your taxes online is usually mid-July (check for the exact dates!).
If you already filed your taxes during the previous year you may receive (by paper or online) a simplified tax return ('voorstel van vereenvoudigde aangifte' in Dutch). If all of the information is current (aka nothing has changed since the previous year) then you do not have to do anything. If what they have proposed is incorrect, then you have to make the appropriate changes.
Non-Belgian residents
If you are not a resident of Belgium, then you need to make sure that you are registered as so with the Belgian tax authorities. For further information you should contact the HR department for international employment of your company.
The same general process is required for non-residents, but the time frames are different. You can chooses to use the paper version (which is mailed in the brown envelope) or online via Tax-on-web. The forms for non-residents are sent out anytime between February and June and are due in the beginning of November (if filing by paper) or the beginning of December (if filing online).
Assistance with filing taxes
- Federal Public Service of Finance:
- here they have a lot of helpful information in a question and answer style
- telephone assistance by appointment, call 02/57 55 666 (Dutch only)
- personal assistance at one of the regional offices, for Leuven this is on Philipssite 3A, also on appointment, call 02/57 55 666 (Dutch only)
- Info for KU Leuven staff: https://www.kuleuven.be/englis...
- International House Leuven holds information sessions and one-on-one tax meeting with a tax consultant during tax season. Go to the activities or Facebook page to find out when these events are held.
- Hire a tax consultant: the tax return for Belgian tax residents is something most accountants can do. Use a search engine to find an accountant near you or ask references from your peers via for example the Facebook group Expats in Leuven.
Helpful Dutch Vocabulary
- belastingen = taxes
- aangifte = tax return
- voorstel van vereenvoudigde aangifte = a simplified tax return
- aangifte in de personenbelasting = ‘normal’ tax return as
a resident - belastingkantoor = tax office
- bedrijfsvoorheffing = the wage tax
- wettelijke samenwoning = legal cohabitation