BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Alain Van Geel and Emilie Van Goidsenhoven, Tiberghien
regime would apply to capital gains realised as of 1 January 2026 and will only concern the increase in value of the assets after that date; historically accrued capital gains would not be targeted by this new capital gains tax. 1.4 Taxation of Real Estate Owned by Non- Residents A specific property tax is assessed on cadastral income (ie, a deemed rental value attributed to the property by the tax authorities). Immovable incomes are also taxed at progressive rates, which generally range between 25% and 50%. The immovable incomes correspond to the “indexed cadastral income” if the property is rented out to peo - ple who do not use it for business purposes. In that case, a non-resident taxpayer is only required to file a tax return if their property income exceeds EUR2,500. Capital gains on Belgian real estate are taxable, with rates depending on the type of property. Capital gains realised on buildings within five years of acquisition are, in principle, taxed at 16.5%. Capital gains realised on Belgian land are taxable at a rate of 33% in the first five years, and at 16.5% between the fifth and eighth years. After this holding period of five/eight years, the realised capital gains are tax exempt. 1.5 Stability of Tax Laws Belgium has had a stable tax system for many years, but there have been more significant tax reforms in recent years. Most of the time, the same topics of dis - cussion come up again when elections are held and a new government is formed. Sometimes, it takes sev - eral governments before a reform is finally adopted, as is the case with the new tax on capital gains on shares that has been announced but still not adapted. Reforms are therefore often unpredictable. 1.6 Transparency and Increased Global Reporting All legislation concerning the exchange of information, the UBO register, DAC 6 and compliance measures is in force and applied in Belgium. These measures are leading to an increase in requests for information from the tax authorities, but this does
not have a direct impact on existing planning tech - niques in Belgium.
2. Succession 2.1 Cultural Considerations in Succession Planning Family profiles are starting to diversify as both small and large families become increasingly aware of the importance of planning. There is a desire to pass on assets earlier than in the past. Moreover, planning is sometimes more complex in the case of reconstituted families. Because of the favourable tax rates applicable on gifts (especially in relation to movable assets and family businesses), the transfer of wealth is generally done while living, rather than upon death. For that reason, a wide range of structures are used in Belgium to transfer wealth transfer, in order to maintain a certain degree of control and to benefit from the transferred assets at the level of the donor. Gifts with the retaining of usufruct are used very often in Belgium. 2.2 International Planning The vast majority of families now have at least one member living abroad. New generations often estab - lish their residence in several countries before set - tling permanently. With Belgium being a very small country, in the centre of Europe, many Belgian resi - dents transferring wealth need to take foreign taxation regimes into account because of family members liv - ing abroad, because of taxed applying in relation to a previous residency or because of assets held abroad. Belgium has only signed two double taxation agree - ments on inheritance tax: one with France and one with Sweden. In cases where no double tax treaty applies, Belgian inheritances tax provides for a tax credit system. However, such tax credits are not foreseen for gift taxes, in which case double taxation might occur. If the wealth planning involves the use of a trust, a foreign foundation or lowed taxed foreign companies, the impact of the so-called Cayman tax needs to be taken into consideration, which provides for some
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