What will change regarding copyright revenue in 2026?

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Imagine this: you’ve just designed an amazing logo for a client and are ready to send the invoice… when the question suddenly pops up: “Can I apply copyright to this, or is something changing in 2026?”

You sigh. You Google it. You find 15 different answers.

And the changes coming into effect in 2026 only make things more confusing. On this page, we explain clearly and step by step what’s changing, and how you can still invoice using copyright fees. No jargon, no hassle.

This blog in short: IT professionals will be able to invoice using copyright again, PEPPOL will make its appearance, and flat-rate will disappear.

Copyright revenue: what's the deal again?

Copyright is a fee for creative work that is:

• original
• fixed in a tangible form

You can claim copyright on any photo, logo, text, website, or other original creative work that you create for your client(s).

Or in plain language: copyright revenue is much more tax-efficient than your regular income. While a sole trader might pay up to 50% tax on business income, copyright revenue is taxed at a flat rate of just 15% (because this income is treated as investment income under this scheme).

Some examples:

• You take nature photos and sell them to a magazine.
  You’re a copywriter and write original texts for a client. You can claim copyright on the texts themselves, but not on the time you bill for uploading them online or managing comments.
• You build a website that includes a standard contact form. The website counts as creative work, but the form does not (because you didn’t design or create it yourself).

Read more about:
Copyright for sole traders
Copyright for companies

What will stay the same in 2026?

Did you already use copyright fees in 2025? Here’s what remains unchanged in 2026:

• A flat rate of 15% on investment income
• No social security contributions on copyright fees
• The 70% professional income / 30% copyright income split remains in place
• A ceiling of €75,360 applies (income year 2025, assessment year 2026)

Copyright fees therefore remain attractive, especially for freelancers with a creative focus.

What’s disappearing in 2026?

The government wants to reduce the tax advantage and prevent abuse. As a result, it’s removing an important deduction, though the system itself will remain. Copyright fees will still be attractive — just not as generous as before.

But here’s the big news:

From 2026, you will no longer be able to apply flat-rate expenses to copyright income. This increases the tax burden from 7.5% and 11.25% to 15%.

Until the end of 2025, you could apply flat-rate costs to copyright income:

• 50% flat-rate costs on the first bracket (€0 - €20,100), at a 7.5% tax rate.
• 25% flat-rate costs on the second bracket (€20,100 - €40,190), at a 11.25% tax rate.

How much will this affect your income?

Now the flat-rate costs scheme is being removed: how much does this impact your earnings?
Let’s make it tangible.

How should you read this?
The higher your copyright income, the bigger the loss. Most freelancers fall into the category of around €10,000 in copyright fees per year. Under this new rule, they would lose roughly €750.

Flat-rate expenses on copyright income will disappear, but actual expenses will remain deductible.

What’s changing for IT professionals?

We also have some good news, especially for IT professionals.

From 1 January 2026, developers and IT consultants will once again fall under the copyright regime.

This means that:

• code
• scripts
• software modules
• technical documentation

will once again be considered creative work.

IT professionals can therefore reclaim a tax advantage on their creative output. This news has already been confirmed.

PEPPOL e-invoicing & copyright: what’s the deal?

From 2026, all B2B invoices in Belgium must be sent via PEPPOL. For copyright fees, nothing really changes: you just need an e-invoicing tool to send your invoices correctly.

Invoicing copyright fees with Accountable?

• Register for free on the PEPPOL network via the Accountable app before 1 January.
• Create your copyright invoice as usual, and select “Send via PEPPOL” when sending it to your client.
• That’s it. You don’t need to worry about PEPPOL: Accountable takes care of everything behind the scenes.

Read here how to correctly create a copyright invoice in Accountable.

Using Creative Shelter with Accountable to invoice copyright fees?

Here’s what changes:

• Creative Shelter creates the invoice on your behalf (this is called self-billing).
• Creative Shelter sends the e-invoice via PEPPOL to you (it arrives in Accountable).
• Accountable recognises the invoice as a sales invoice, and the e-invoice appears in your income dashboard.
• The invoice is automatically recorded as income in Accountable.

Accountable users can continue using Creative Shelter for their copyright invoices. It works via PEPPOL self-billing, and from 1 January 2026, Accountable will handle this automatically.

All copyright changes at a glance

Invoicing with copyright fees? Easy with Accountable. Try it now!

Author - Artyom Ghazaryan

Artyom is Head of Accounting at Accountable, and a chartered Accountant & Tax Specialist.

Who is Artyom ?