Belgium makes investing complicated. Not because investing itself is hard, but because the tax system is.
You pay a tax when you buy. Another when you receive dividends. A third when you sell at a profit. And if your bonds are involved, there's yet another tax waiting for you. Miss one, and you might get a letter from the tax authorities years later.
Here's everything you need to know about investment taxes in Belgium, explained without the jargon.
We do our best to keep this information up-to-date. We closely follow any changes in the Belgian tax system and update this page whenever something important shifts. Still, there’s always a small chance that something might have changed since you’re reading this. Check when this article was last updated at the top, and make sure to double-check things yourself too.
Tax on transactions (“beurstaks” or “taxe boursière”)
There's a tax on every securities transaction. This happens when you buy or sell a security (like a stock, bond, or ETF). It's called the tax on stock-exchange transactions, or TOB. The tax rate is between 0.12% and 1.32% of the transaction amount. But determining the exact tax rate for a stock or ETF is complicated. In fact, it confuses even brokers as they sometimes use different tax rates for the same ETF. For instance, Bolero charges a 1.32% tax rate for the VWCE ETF whereas DEGIRO uses a 0.12% tax rate.
Belgian brokers handle the transaction tax for you. But many foreign brokers don't. In that case, learn how to declare the transaction tax.
Tax on dividends (“roerende voorheffing” or “précompte mobilier”)
There’s a 30% tax on dividends that you perceive through stocks that you hold. This tax is not only applicable to individual stocks, but also to distributing funds and ETFs.
Capital gains tax
On 1 January 2026, the Belgian government introduced a 10% tax on realised capital gains on most financial assets. The tax applies when you sell assets like stocks, ETFs, index funds, bonds, crypto (including NFTs), commodities such as investment gold, and derivatives. Pension saving plans keep their own separate rules and are exempt.
Each year, you get a €10,000 exemption, which will be indexed to inflation. If you don’t use the full amount, you can carry over one-tenth per year for up to five years, so your exemption can grow to up to €15,000.
Your gain is calculated simply as the selling price minus the purchase price. You can’t deduct broker fees, transaction taxes or other costs. If you sell at a loss, you can offset that loss against other realised gains in the same year, but you can’t carry it forward to the next year.
How the tax is collected depends on where you invest. Belgian brokers can withhold the 10% tax for you, which means you’re done. Though they can’t apply your exemption or losses, so you might reclaim part of it later in your tax return. You can also opt out and handle the declaration yourself. Foreign brokers don't withhold the tax, so you need to track, calculate and declare your gains each year in your tax return.
Capital gains tax for bond funds (Reynders tax)
For funds and ETFs that consist of at least 10% bonds, there is a 30% tax on the profits made when selling. For example, if you bought a bond at €100 and end up selling it later for €130, your net profit will only be €21. The other €9 will go to the Belgian state through the Reynders tax.
Funds that only consist of bonds will incur a 30% tax rate on their entire profit. For mixed funds, such as those that contain both bonds and stocks, the tax applies only to the bond part of the fund. So, if you own a fund of 50% bonds and 50% stocks, the tax rate on the profits will be 15%, not the full 30%. But there's a caveat. The Belgian tax authorities require the fund provider to publish certain documents. Most foreign providers don't as Belgium is a small market for them. So in practice, you'll likely still pay the full 30%. This applies to for instance the Vanguard LifeStrategy ETFs.
Belgian brokers handle the Reynders tax for you. Foreign brokers don’t, which means you’ll need to do the maths and file it yourself each year.
Tax on investment accounts (“taks op effectenrekeningen” or “taxe sur les comptes-titres”)
Back in February 2021, the Belgian government introduced a tax aimed at the wealthiest investors. It is a 0.30% yearly tax on investment accounts worth more than €1,000,000.
The good news is that the tax authorities look at each account separately. So you can have several accounts that together exceed €1,000,000 without owing the tax, as long as none of the individual accounts is above the limit.
There is an important caveat. If you had an investment account of €1,000,000 or more after February 2021 and then split it into several smaller accounts, the tax authorities can treat this as tax avoidance. So you need to be careful.
Belgian banks and brokers automatically withhold and pay the tax for you. If you hold securities through a foreign account, you need to declare and pay the tax yourself.
Learning more
We have in-depth resources on the transaction tax, the Reynders tax, the dividend tax, and the capital gains tax. We also cover how crypto is taxed.
We also refer you Wikifin’s website in Dutch or French. The FSMA, the Belgian regulator for the financial sector, maintains Wikifin. Their information is trustworthy and independent.
Summary
Taxes are a fact of life when you invest in Belgium. The transaction tax hits you when you buy or sell. The dividend tax takes 30% of your distributions. The capital gains tax claims 10% of your profits above €10,000. And if you hold bonds, the Reynders tax adds another layer.
It sounds like a lot. And honestly, it is more complex than in many other countries. But you can work with this system rather than against it. Choose accumulating funds to skip the dividend tax. Keep your transactions low to minimise transaction costs. Track your gains carefully for the capital gains tax.
The key is not to let tax complexity stop you from investing altogether. Your money loses value to inflation if it just sits in a savings account. You can navigate Belgium's tax rules and still build wealth over time. Start by learning about Curvo's tax-efficient portfolios that work within the Belgian system.