Belgium

Belgium's Rankings
CategoryRankScore
Overall Rank2361.6
Corporate Taxes1563.77
Individual Taxes1173.74
Consumption Taxes3059.6
Property Taxes3045.21
Crossborder Taxes1877.86

Belgium ranks 23rd overall on the 2021 International Tax Competitiveness Index, four spots worse than in 2020.


Strengths

  • Belgium has a broad tax treaty network, with 95 countries, and a territorial tax system as it fully exempts foreign-sourced dividends and capital gains without any country limitations.
  • Capital gains resulting from normal management of private wealth are exempt from tax.
  • Belgium provides an allowance for corporate equity (ACE) to address the debt bias that is inherent to the standard corporate income tax.

Weaknesses

  • The corporate rate of 25 percent is slightly above average among OECD countries (22.9 percent).
  • Belgium levies an estate tax and a financial transaction tax and introduced a new annual tax on securities accounts.
  • The Belgian tax wedge on labor is the highest among the OECD countries, with the average single worker facing a tax burden of 51.5 percent.

Learn more about the tax system in Belgium

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