Advance tax payments for the self-employed: how does it work?

Paying taxes in advance? Admittedly, it's not the most appealing concept. Technically, these advance payments aren't mandatory, but failing to make them results in a substantial tax surcharge. In 2025, this surcharge is set at 6.75%, applicable whether you're a sole trader, a company director, or a supporting spouse. By making advance payments, you can avoid this tax increase.

Advance tax payments 2025

In essence, the Federal Public Service Finance nearly always implements a tax surcharge, acting as a form of interest on your taxes. This is because without these advance payments, self-employed individuals would end up paying their taxes the following year, while employees have tax deducted from their pay each month.

Viewed as a prepayment on your total tax bill, these advance payments are calculated based on your estimated professional income for the year, similar to the system used for employees.

If you don’t make advance payments, the surcharge will be 6.75% (in 2025). Fortunately, you can 'neutralise' this tax surcharge by making advance payments, with a payment in the first quarter having the most significant effect.

Who needs to make advance tax payments?

Advance tax payments are not strictly mandatory, but those who don’t make them will face a tax surcharge.

• All self-employed (both sole traders and company directors), liberal professionals, and collaborating spouses who have been self-employed for more than three years and do not make advance payments risk a tax increase.
  
• Self-employed for less than three years? In that case, no tax surcharge will be applied, but you may receive a bonus (tax reduction) if you do make advance payments.

How do advance tax payments work?

You can make quarterly advance payments, but as you can see from the table above, prepayment in the first quarter has the most impact.

Calculation of tax surcharge

Let’s say you are a self-employed sole trader, and based on your estimated income, you would owe a total of €10,000 in taxes.

The Federal Public Service (FOD) applies a tax surcharge of 6.75%. This means that if you do not make advance tax payments, you would have to pay an additional €715.50 in taxes.

Calculation of the surcharge:

• The calculation base for the surcharge is 106% of the tax amount you owe on your income. In this example: €10,000 × 106% = €10,600.
• The tax surcharge of 6.75% is then applied: €10,600 × 6.75% = €715.50.

Example: largest advance payment in Q1

It is recommended to make the largest advance payment in the first quarter. This is because a payment in Q1 provides a tax benefit of 9%, whereas a payment in the last quarter only yields 4.5%.

• Let’s say you make an advance payment of 75% of your estimated tax, which in this case amounts to €7,500.
• This entitles you to a tax benefit of €675 (€7,500 × 9%).

In other words, thanks to this advance payment in Q1, you reduce the surcharge from €715.50 to just €40.50 (€715.50 - €675).

• Next, the Federal Public Service Finance applies a reduction of 90% on the remaining surcharge (90% × €40.50 = €36.45).
• If the final surcharge is less than €100 or 0.5% of the tax base, it will not be applied—effectively bringing the surcharge to €0.

By paying in Q1, you can significantly reduce or even eliminate the tax surcharge.

Example: spread-out advance tax payments

It's quite normal for self-employed individuals not to be able to make a 75% advance payment in the first quarter. However, be aware that the tax reduction decreases each quarter, so it is always beneficial to make the largest advance payment in Q1.

• A recommended approach is to make the largest payment in Q1, followed by smaller advance payments in the subsequent quarters. This strategy helps maximize tax benefits while maintaining financial flexibility.

• You can also choose to make equal advance payments each quarter.

💡 Note: During the current financial year, you don’t yet know how much tax you’ll ultimately need to pay. Therefore, try to make as accurate an estimate as possible and make a substantial advance payment in the first quarter, but don’t overdo it. Of course, you will receive a refund if you overpay your taxes in advance.

Tax reduction (bonification) for advance tax payments

The bonification is a tax reduction granted to:

• All self-employed individuals who settle their tax debt faster than required.
• All self-employed individuals whose advance payments exceed what is necessary to avoid the tax surcharge (6.75%).
• All self-employed individuals who are first-time main occupation entrepreneurs in 2023, 2024, or 2025.

⚠️ Note: to be eligible for this bonification, you must have paid 106% of the amount of your final owed taxes in advance.

Example of tax reduction (bonification) for advance payments

• Total taxes owed: €10,000.
• To be eligible for the bonification, you must have paid €10,600 in advance (106% of the amount of your final owed taxes).

💡By making advance payments, you have eliminated the tax surcharge, and in this example, you will pay €378.75 less in taxes.

Practical aspects of advance payments

When should you make advance payments in 2025?

Here are the final payment dates for each quarter:

• Quarter 1: by 10/04
• Quarter 2: by 10/07
• Quarter 3: by 10/10
• Quarter 4: by 22/12

The funds must be in the government’s account by these dates. Make sure to execute your payment in time, considering weekends and public holidays. Payments made after these dates will count for the next quarter and will have less impact due to the lower reduction percentage.

How do you make an advance payment?

You have several options for making the payment:

1. You can pay online via MyMinFin. If the amount is too high, you might encounter payment limits, but these can be increased through your bank.
2. Alternatively, you can use a bank transfer, preferably from an account in your own name. Be sure to use the structured communication code for your business, which you can find on MyMinFin.
3. Make your advance payment with Accountable.

Bank details:

• Account number: BE61 6792 0022 9117 (BIC: PCHQ BEBB)
• Payable to: ‘Inningscentrum – Dienst voorafbetalingen’
• Address: Koning Albert II-laan 33, 1030 Brussel.

Exceptions to the tax increase

In some cases, you won't face a tax increase even if you don't make advance payments.

• This applies, for instance, to newly established self-employed individuals and small companies that have been operating for less than three years.
• Additionally, if the increase is less than €100, it is not applied.

If you're unsure about your situation, contact our Tax Coaches; they are ready to assist you.

However, if you have already made a significant profit in these first three years, it might still be beneficial to make advance payments. This way, you won’t have to pay a large sum of taxes all at once the following year. While this provides peace of mind, unfortunately, it does not yield a tax benefit.

💡Accountable tip: If you have a creative profession and part of your revenue comes from copyright royalties, you won’t have to pay taxes on that portion.

Never overpay on taxes with Accountable

The calculations from the examples above are based on the total tax amount, which you only know after the final settlement. However, you can still accurately estimate how much tax you will need to pay during the fiscal year. If you keep track of your income and expenses in Accountable, the app automatically calculates this for you. Convenient, right?

Accountable is the perfect partner for planning your advance tax payments. The app sends you notifications when advance payment deadlines are approaching, provides payment instructions, and suggests an appropriate amount. It also takes into account your start date, as you don’t need to make advance payments in the first three years.

To use this feature, simply go to the ‘Taxes’ tab and navigate to the ‘Advance Personal Tax Payments’ section, and enter a few details, including:

• Your estimated profit for this year (or you can enter a standard amount)
• Your preference for advance payments: none, gradually throughout the year, or as much as possible at the start of the year (choose the latter if it is financially feasible).

This way, you can easily avoid a tax increase and never pay more taxes than necessary.

What may seem complex, Accountable makes easy for you. This is true for advance payments as well as for your entire accounting. With Accountable, you always have a perfect view of your finances, and you can optimally plan your advance payments. This ensures you never overpay taxes, neither in advance nor afterwards.

Try Accountable now for free.

Author - Artyom Ghazaryan

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

Who is Artyom ?