Belgium
Belgium: 7 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment, and what it is known for.
Forming a company
Company types in Belgium
The 7 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
What it is known for
Where Belgium is in the world’s top 10 on a measure anyone can check, the best rank first. Only the top is shown; a low rank is never stated.
- World’s1stWorld-leading exports Frozen prepared vegetablesOther vegetables prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid, frozen, other than products of heading 2006US$4.4 bn · 28.4% of world exports of 163 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s2ndWorld-leading exports Diamonds (unmounted)Diamonds, whether or not worked, but not mounted or setUS$8.5 bn · 11.6% of world exports of 120 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s2ndWorld-leading exports Chocolate and cocoa preparationsChocolate and other food preparations containing cocoaUS$5 bn · 11.7% of world exports of 193 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s6thResearch and technology Research and development spending3.27% of GDP of 78 economies · 2023 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s joint7thLogistics and freight Logistics Performance Index4.0 of 5 of 138 economies · 2022 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 12
- World’s10thTax-treaty network Income-tax treaties in force95 of 100 treaty networks we hold the tax authority's own list (tax-treaties collection) See the top 10
A rank is among everything the source reports for that year, so it moves when the source adds or drops economies. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names Belgium. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for Belgium.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for Belgium: where to register, file and check.
Business registerClerk's office of the business court (registration of the deed) and Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, through an accredited business counterbusiness.belgium.beTax authorityFPS Finance (SPF Finances / FOD Financiën), Belgian federal tax administrationfinances.belgium.be
Tax treaties in forceminfin.fgov.beminfin.fgov.be
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements Belgium belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
- European Union: internal market and customs union
- Single market · since 1958
Covers goods, services, establishment, capital, movement of people, a common external tariff.
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EU Member State since 1958, Euro area member since 1999, Schengen area member since 1995 and more about Belgium’s participation in the EU.
- European Union: VAT territory
- Inside it
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‘Community’ and ‘territory of the Community’ mean the territories of the Member States as defined in point (2);
- Euro area
- Monetary union · since 1999
Covers a common currency.
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EU Member State since 1958, Euro area member since 1999, Schengen area member since 1995 and more about Belgium’s participation in the EU.
- Schengen area
- Free movement area · since 1995
Covers movement of people.
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EU Member State since 1958, Euro area member since 1999, Schengen area member since 1995 and more about Belgium’s participation in the EU.
- European Economic Area
- Single market · since 1 January 1994
Covers goods, movement of people, services, establishment, capital.
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which now covers the EU and its 27 Member States, and three of the four EFTA members: Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 25%
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Not in our records
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- Not in our records
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in Belgium, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- Standard rate
- 21%Official European Commission, Taxes in Europe Database situation on 2026/07/01
- Other rates
- 12% Intermediate rate (return grid R02); the page does not list the goods and services
- 6% Reduced rate (return grid R01); the page does not list the goods and services
- 0% Zero rate (grid R00), which the page says applies exceptionally to certain goods and services
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Taux intermédiaire : 12 % (R02) Taux réduit : 6 % (R01)
- Registration threshold
- No threshold: from the first taxable supply
taxable supplies
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Introduisez votre demande d’identification à la TVA minimum deux jours après l’inscription de votre entreprise dans la BCE, mais avant de débuter votre activité économique.
- Voluntary registration
- No
Registration follows from being a taxable person: the VAT identification must be applied for before the activity starts. A business whose annual turnover does not exceed EUR 25,000 (excluding VAT) may instead opt into the small-business franchise scheme (régime de la franchise de taxe), but it stays a taxable person with a VAT identification number and does not charge or deduct VAT.
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Vous pouvez prétendre au régime de la franchise de taxe si le chiffre d’affaires annuel de votre entreprise ne dépasse pas 25.000 euros (hors TVA). Peu importe la forme juridique de votre entreprise (personne physique, société, etc.).
- A foreign company
- See the note
The authority says foreign businesses (domicile or seat abroad, no permanent establishment in Belgium) must also register for VAT if they carry out operations for which they themselves owe Belgian VAT. A non-established taxable person applies directly to the Centre PME Matières spécifiques. The pages read state no turnover threshold for foreign businesses and no fiscal-representative rule.
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qui ne disposent pas d’un établissement stable en Belgique) doivent aussi s’enregistrer à des fins de TVA si elles effectuent des opérations pour lesquelles elles doivent elles-mêmes satisfaire à la TVA en Belgique
- Returns filed
- Monthly
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Le dépôt des déclarations de TVA mensuelles est la règle.
- Tax authority
- Registration page read 2026-10-23
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in Belgium, tax year aanslagjaar 2026 (corporate return); aanslagjaar 2027 / income 2026 (advance payments); 2026 (individual return, VAT), as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- 7 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
Last day of the 7th month after the financial year closes; if that is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the next working day. The page lists an exception for balance dates 31 Dec 2025 to 28 Feb 2026 (deadline 15 October 2026). Assessment year 2026.
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De uiterste datum van indiening van de aangifte is wettelijk vastgesteld op de laatste dag van de zevende maand volgend op het afsluiten van het boekjaar. Als de uiterste datum van indiening op een zaterdag, zondag of feestdag valt, dan is de eerstvolgende werkdag de uiterste datum van indiening.
- Corporate tax, final payment
- Not in our records
financien.belgium.be inaccessible when checked
- Corporate tax, instalments
- Set each year by decree · each quarter
Voorafbetalingen for assessment year 2027 (income 2026): payment must reach the account by 10 April, 10 July, 12 October and 21 December 2026 (the page states these are the dates the payment must arrive). Dates are set each year; the page says late payments count toward the next quarter. Page gives no weekend rule beyond stating the dates.
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ten laatste op 10 april 2026 voor het eerste kwartaal ten laatste op 10 juli 2026 voor het tweede kwartaal ten laatste op 12 oktober 2026 voor het derde kwartaal ten laatste op 21 december 2026 voor het vierde kwartaal
- Personal income-tax return
- Set each year by decree · each year
Income 2025, filed 2026. Online filing via MyMinfin: 19 July 2026. The same page gives 30 June 2026 for paper returns and 31 October 2026 for online filers with specific income (self-employed, foreign professional income).
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19 juli 2026: als u MyMinfin (Tax-on-web) gebruikt (om uw aangifte in te dienen of uw voorstel van vereenvoudigde aangifte te wijzigen).
- Personal income tax, final payment
- Not in our records
financien.belgium.be inaccessible when checked
- Personal income tax, instalments
- Set each year by decree · each quarter
Advance payments for assessment year 2027 (income 2026); page also describes a bonificatie (tax reduction) for timely payment. Voluntary but incentivised.
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Voor het aanslagjaar 2027 (inkomsten 2026) zijn de uiterste data voor voorafbetalingen: 10 april 2026 10 juli 2026 12 oktober 2026 21 december 2026
- VAT return
- Day 20 of the following month · each month
Monthly returns are due the 20th of the following month. Quarterly filers (the page's other tables) are due the 25th of the month after the quarter (e.g. Q3 2026: 25.10.2026 per the page). The calendar itself shows adjusted dates (e.g. May 2026 filed by 22.06.2026) but states no general weekend rule.
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Maandelijkse aangiften Aangifte voor ... Ten laatste in te dienen op ... December 2025 20.01.2026 Januari 2026 20.02.2026 Februari 2026 20.03.2026
- Payroll withholding
- Set each year by decree · each month
FPS Finance's calendar lists the dates by which the declaration must be filed and the payment received, for each month (Dec 2025 to Dec 2026 periods: 15 Jan 2026 to 15 Jan 2027). The twelve dates in 2026 are recorded; they fall on the 13th, 14th or 15th, and the page states no rule beyond the list. The page also gives a quarterly calendar (15 Jan, 15 Apr, 15 Jul, 15 Oct 2026, 15 Jan 2027) and the declaration page says the deadlines depend on the amount of précompte professionnel owed the previous year, with EUR 50,240 the maximum fixed for the quarterly system in 2025 (https://finances.belgium.be/fr/entreprises/personnel_et_remuneration/precompte_professionnel/declaration).
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Déclarations et paiements mensuels Déclaration / paiement relatifs à... A introduire au plus tard et paiement à recevoir le Décembre 2025 15.01.2026 Janvier 2026 13.02.2026 Février 2026 13.03.2026 Mars 2026 15.04.2026
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for Belgium yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods Belgium exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes Belgium’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, other than crude; preparations not elsewhere specified or included, containing by weight 70 % or more of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of the preparations; waste oils HS 2710 | 7.8% | 9.0% | 8.8% | US$33.4 bn |
| Human blood; animal blood prepared for therapeutic, prophylactic or diagnostic uses; antisera, other blood fractions and immunological products, whether or not modified or obtained by means of biotechnological processes; vaccines, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms (excluding yeasts) and similar products; cell cultures, whether or not modified HS 3002 | 9.4% | 6.7% | 6.7% | US$25.5 bn |
| Medicaments (excluding goods of heading 3002, 3005 or 3006) consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, put up in measured doses (including those in the form of transdermal administration systems) or in forms or packings for retail sale HS 3004 | 4.5% | 5.0% | 6.0% | US$22.6 bn |
| Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons (other than those of heading 8702), including station wagons and racing cars HS 8703 | 4.4% | 5.8% | 5.6% | US$21.4 bn |
| Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons HS 2711 | 10.5% | 4.1% | 2.7% | US$10.3 bn |
| Diamonds, whether or not worked, but not mounted or set HS 7102 | 3.4% | 2.7% | 2.2% | US$8.5 bn |
| Parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705 HS 8708 | 1.1% | 1.4% | 1.3% | US$5 bn |
| Chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa HS 1806 | 0.68% | 0.97% | 1.3% | US$5 bn |
| Other vegetables prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid, frozen, other than products of heading 2006 HS 2004 | 0.65% | 1.1% | 1.2% | US$4.4 bn |
| Polymers of ethylene, in primary forms HS 3901 | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.1% | US$4.1 bn |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$380.6 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.