From the 2026 income year onwards, flat-rate expense deductions on copyright income will no longer be available to everyone. In principle, they will be reserved for people who hold a valid Arts Certificate for the relevant activity. If you do not have this attestation, flat-rate expenses can no longer be applied, which may increase the tax due on this income. Accountable has of course been updated accordingly.
You will find all the information regarding copyright in this article.
🚨🚨🚨 To ensure that the withholding tax is calculated correctly, you must therefore indicate in Accountable whether or not you hold an Arts Certificate. ⚠️ It is therefore essential that you indicate in Accountable whether you are the holder of an Arts Certificate from the web version. |
➡️ You must do this in Settings > Taxes.
You must answer “No” to the question: “As of 2026, copyright income needs an arts certificate for lump sum deductions. Do you have one?” and then click Save to apply the change.
You must answer “Yes” to the question: “As of 2026, copyright income needs an arts certificate for lump sum deductions. Do you have one?"
⚠️ Don’t forget to answer the question: “What is the validity period of your Arts Work Attestation?” and then click Save to apply the change.
➡️ Once these steps have been completed, your account will be correctly configured and the flat-rate expenses will be applied or not, depending on your situation.
If the client is not yet in your list, you can add them by clicking on “Add a new client.”
If they are already registered, simply select them:
In most cases, an invoice with copyright will also include a sales of service item in addition to the copyright section.
Your invoice will therefore include two items:
An item under the “Sales of service” category:
A second item with copyright income, with details provided in the next section (1.4).
In some cases, you may only invoice copyright. |
First, click on “Add a new item”:
Then, select the category “Copyright revenue”:
🚨 Don't forget to select the correct VAT rate! More info on this article. |
If you choose to have the client pay the withholding tax directly to the government, we will include payment instructions on the invoice to ensure they can make the payment correctly.
To do this, you need to check the option “The client will pay the withholding tax” in the withholding tax section under Settings:
💡 Once you select the option indicating that the client will pay the withholding tax, the payment details will be automatically added to the invoice. |
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⚠️ The amount due does not correspond to the sum your client will pay you, as they will settle the withholding tax on your behalf. ✅ You will therefore receive the invoiced amount minus the withholding tax. ✅ The total amount invoiced will be counted as part of your income. |
In the opposite case, we will ask your client to pay the full invoice amount, and we will provide you with the necessary instructions so that you can pay the withholding tax yourself.
The instructions will appear if you do not check “The client will pay the withholding tax”, and you will be able to see how to proceed through the link to this article.
💡 Tip: You can check “The client will pay the withholding tax” to see the amount of withholding tax to be paid, and then uncheck it. |
When you create your copyright invoices with Accountable, the system will automatically account for them in your income tax declaration, including the gross copyright income, expenses, and withholding tax:
✅ The system calculates the thresholds for the flat-rate expenses, and the withholding tax is calculated accordingly. 🚨⚠️ If flat-rate expenses do not apply because you do not hold an Arts Work Certificate, the withholding tax will be calculated on the invoiced copyright amount (gross amount). |
Author - Valesca Wilms
As content marketing lead at Accountable Belgium, Valesca writes about freelancing, self-employment, and taxes based on her own experience as a freelancer.
Who is Valesca ?Thank you for your feedback!
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