Belgium taxes salaries heavily, and employers recruiting from abroad know it. The expat tax regime in Belgium is their answer. The answer in the Income Tax Code is a regime for impatriates: a mechanism that lets an employer reimburse some of your relocation costs without those sums being taxed as pay. It is valuable, it is strict, and the deadline is short. Here is what Belgium's expat tax regime really offers.
What does the expat tax regime in Belgium offer?
Under article 32/1 of the Income Tax Code, as amended by the law of 18 December 2025, your employer can reimburse you tax-free part of your costs:
- up to 35% of your pay for recurring costs (it was 30% before 2025);
- moving costs;
- setting up the home within the first 6 months, up to 1,500 euros (an amount the law allows the government to index every three years);
- the children's school fees (minerval) at a private or international school, for children of compulsory school age.
The annual cap of 90,000 euros set in 2021 has disappeared: the law of 18 December 2025 (articles 15 and 16) repealed the paragraphs that fixed it, for pay received from 1 January 2025.
Who qualifies?
You must be an employee or manager recruited directly abroad by a Belgian employer, or seconded within an international group. The conditions, during the 60 months before you start:
- you were not a Belgian resident;
- you did not live less than 150 km from the Belgian border;
- you did not pay non-resident tax on Belgian professional income.
You must also earn more than 70,000 euros gross a year from that employer (the threshold was 75,000 euros before pay of 2025), prorated in the year you arrive, and the tax administration must approve the request. The regime lasts at most five years, extendable by three. If you are a company manager who founded the company or holds 30% or more of its shares, you are excluded.
What about the deadline?
It is strict. Your employer applies online within three months of your start date, with an attestation that you sign. If you miss it, you lose the regime. The administration then has three months to answer, and if it agrees, the regime applies from your start date. For 2025 starters between 70,000 and 75,000 euros, a late request was possible for three months from the tenth day after the law's publication on 30 December 2025; that window closed in April 2026.
Because the benefit depends on your employer acting within three months, the best moment to ask is before you sign. Moovy can prepare the list of questions for your offer letter and tell you what to check, though a tax adviser should confirm the final calculation.
What about researchers?
Impatriate researchers (article 32/2) get the same 35% rate with no pay threshold. The regime is for employees who spend at least 80% of their working time on scientific or technical research, and who hold a diploma from the list in the law or can show at least 10 years of relevant experience.
Is the expat tax status in Belgium right for you?
It depends on pay, on where you lived, on your family and on how your employer structures the package. Compare the figures with the standard tax in taxes in Belgium for new residents.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Assuming it is automatic. It requires the employer's request.
- Living near the border before moving. The 150 km condition excludes many people from Lille, Aachen, Maastricht or Luxembourg.
- Missing the three-month window.
- Treating the old thresholds as current. Check the law as amended.
The amounts and conditions of this regime changed again for pay from 2025. Before you accept an offer that counts on it, have your file confirmed by a tax adviser or an accountant in Belgium.
If you work as a freelance, the regime does not apply; see freelance in Belgium. For employee basics, see working in Belgium.
How does the expat tax regime in Belgium work in practice?
The employer pays you an allowance or reimburses actual costs, and the regime treats those sums as non-taxable up to the limits above. You do not receive a special tax rate; instead, part of your package is not taxed as pay. This is why the exact list of eligible costs and the way your employer documents them matter.
The expat tax regime in Belgium therefore depends on three things: your profile at the time of recruitment, your pay level, and the employer's application. If one of the three fails, you pay ordinary tax on the full package.
What documents does the employer need?
The employer applies online within the three-month window with an attestation that you sign. Keep your own file: your previous addresses over the 60 months, proof of where you lived relative to the border, and proof that you did not earn taxable Belgian professional income. If you worked near the border without living there, tell the employer at once, since the 150 km condition looks at where you lived.
What happens after five years?
The regime lasts at most five years. It can be extended by three years if the employer conditions and the pay threshold are still met; the employer applies for the extension online, within three months after the first five years end. After that, ordinary rules apply. Plan your finances accordingly, since the tax-free reimbursements will stop, and review your package before the end.
Is it available to freelancers or the self-employed?
No. The regime is for employees and directors recruited abroad or seconded within a group. A freelance profile follows the self-employed rules in freelance in Belgium.
What should you ask before accepting an offer?
- Will the employer apply for the impatriate regime, and within the deadline?
- Which costs are reimbursed, and are they included in the 35% cap?
- Does the package already consider the 70,000 euro threshold?
- Who bears the risk if the application is refused?
Put the answers in writing. For the standard tax picture, see taxes in Belgium for new residents, and for the employment basics working in Belgium.
What does article 32/1 actually say?
The regime is set in article 32/1 of the Income Tax Code (the CIR 1992 in French), introduced by the programme law of 27 December 2021 and amended by the law of 18 December 2025. It allows tax-free reimbursement of what the code calls costs proper to the employer, within the limits above. The researcher variant is in article 32/2. Because the text was amended recently, always check the version in force when you sign: the threshold, the percentage and the cap changed in the last few years.
Who is excluded in practice?
People who lived less than 150 km from the Belgian border in the 60 months before starting are excluded, as are those who were Belgian residents or paid non-resident tax on Belgian professional income in that time. In practice a cross-border commuter from a nearby region is unlikely to qualify, whereas someone coming from a distant country or from a different part of Europe is the typical beneficiary. A posting within a group counts, as does direct recruitment.
What should the employee keep in mind?
The reimbursements must correspond to real costs and are limited by the cap. They are paid by the employer, so negotiate them as part of your package. If your employer does not know the regime, point to the FPS Finance page and the law. Do not sign a contract that assumes the regime without a written commitment from the employer to apply for it.