Investing when you live in belgium? We hope that our Belgian readers will also benefit greatly from our information when talking about investing. In fact, all that information can simply be taken over 1 to 1 when you live in Belgium and want to start investing. The only difference between NL and “le belgique” is the tax system. That’s a bit of a thing. To get you started, we have picked out some tax issues for our Belgian readers to answer the question: what is the tax situation in Belgium when it comes to investing?
3 types of taxes in a nutshell
If you live in Belgium and you are going to invest, there are 3 types of taxes you need to consider:
- Exchange transaction taxes
- Taxes on income from investments
- Capital gains taxes
1. Exchange transaction taxes (TOB).
This means that both when you buy and sell investments, you pay a percentage of the purchase or sale amount in taxes. Herein, however, different fees are charged depending on the investment product.
2. Taxes on investment income.
In this group, tax is levied on your dividend (stocks) or interest (bonds). This is a withholding tax that your broker pays to the Belgian tax authorities. The advantage is that you get a payment from your broker that is net and you don’t have to look after this yourself. By the way, there are some exceptions where you can get this withholding tax back from the IRS. For example, if you have invested in GVVs, Regulated Real Estate Companies. There is also a tax-free base on dividends paid on shares. So really something to pay attention to because it can make you money.
3. Capital gains taxes
This tax applies particularly to bonds, and specifically to the capital gain on your bond at the end of the term. So if the amount you get paid on the bond is higher than what you paid for it at entry, that is your capital gain.
An Overview
Want to know about the tax situation in Belgium in terms of investing? Below is a chart where you can see where your investment product falls.
We can’t make it more fun….
The Belgian tax system is a complicated one when it comes to investing, but don’t let that stop you. The easiest thing to do first is to find out which tax type your investment product falls under and from there delve into the rules and rates. Once you get comfortable in it you will find that it is not all that bad and in some cases can even get taxpayer dollars back.
