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Van Peteghem ‘does not touch’ tax on real estate in Belgium

25 november 2020

17:06

Minister of Finance Vincent Van Peteghem says he will not affect the tax on rental property in Belgium. His administration is working on a plan to tax real estate more fairly.

It The European Court of Justice once again turned the spotlight last week in the brutal way in which we tax rental income in our country that comes from apartments and houses. Belgium is the only country in the European Union that is not taxed on real rental income. The Court demands a fine of 2 million euros and penalties of 7,500 euros per day as long as rental income from domestic and foreign homes is taxed differently, because that goes against the free movement of capital.

Belgians who rent out real estate in their own country are taxed on the basis of the cadastral income, while compatriots who rent out something abroad are taxed on the real rental income. According to the European Court, this inequality must be corrected: the cadastral income is lower than the real income, and therefore those who rent out real estate in their own country are favored.

The past weeks Minister of Finance Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V) worked on a solution. “The administration is working on a solution to get rid of the unequal taxation of rental income, but that solution will only concern real estate abroad,” he said in the Chamber on Wednesday afternoon. ‘Real estate in Belgium is being affected.’

It is not yet clear what this solution will look like, but it will be discussed in the government ‘soon’, said Van Peteghem. ‘It is important that we as a country fulfill our obligations. I assume that the government will reach an agreement. ‘

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