Taxi Driver Joeri Cools Faces Massive Tax Bill on Inherited House

A former taxi driver in Ghent received a house worth half a million euros from a loyal customer after 18 years of regular rides, only to discover that the inheritance comes with a massive tax bill reported by NOS.

Joeri Cools, 53, learned through a notary’s letter in September that Annie, an 81-year-old passenger who had used his taxi weekly, had left him her property in her testament dating back to 2011.

Annie, who lived in Brussels and traveled by train to Ghent every week before taking a taxi, developed a close relationship with Cools over nearly two decades.

As their trust grew, she shared details about her sociology studies, her youth, and her lifelong civic engagement, while mentioning she had three serious relationships but never married or had children. Omdat ze geen eigen gezin had, wilde ze blijkbaar zelf heel bewust bepalen waar haar vermogen naartoe ging, om te vermijden dat het verloren zou gaan, says Cools.

Cools shared his own memories of a difficult upbringing marked by neglect, abuse, time in a foster family, and family tragedies.

Their connection became so strong that Annie would search for his taxi upon arriving in Ghent, telling him U ken ik, u vertrouw ik, zei ze dan altijd als ze instapte according to Cools. After last speaking in 2021, Cools lost contact with her before she passed away in June 2025 in a nursing home, where she also left apartments to three good friends.

Because Annie spent her final years living in Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe within the Brussels-Capital Region, the inheritance is subject to steep tax rates for non-family members. According to calculations, Cools must pay 358,750 euro in inheritance taxes to the Brussels-Capital Region, leaving him with approximately 140,000 euro after selling the property.

Tax rates for non-relatives escalate rapidly, starting at 40 percent on the first 50,000 euro, rising through 55 and 65 percent, and hitting 80 percent on any amount above 175,000 euro. According to UGent professor of inheritance law Bart Chiau, if Annie had lived in Ghent, Cools would have retained over 98,000 euro more due to differing regional rules for the exact same house and recipient.

People without a partner or children can leave up to 100,000 euro to friends or distant family through a testament, taxed at 3 percent on the first 50,000 euro and 9 percent on the remainder.