When you’re self-employed in Belgium, you pay social security contributions every quarter. But what happens if you pay too much and then get a refund of the extra contributions you paid?
That’s good news for your bank account, but how do you correctly report this refund of (part of) your social security contributions and pay the right taxes on it? Find out in this article.
Need a refresher on how social security contributions are calculated and why you need to pay them? Read everything you need to know about social security contributions for the self-employed in 2025 here.
As a self-employed person, you pay provisional social security contributions every quarter. After around two years, FPS Finance communicates your actual income to your social security fund. If the estimated income used to calculate your provisional contributions was higher than your actual income, you’ll get back the extra amount you paid.
Your social security fund notifies you and automatically transfers the money to your account, unless you still have an outstanding debt. In this case, the money is used to settle the debt. Note that this only applies to late payments. You still need to pay your contribution for the current quarter.
Your actual income never exactly matches the estimated income on which your social security contributions are calculated, and that’s normal. This is why, after 2 or 3 years, you’re always in one of two situations: either you get some money back, or you have to pay extra. It’s roughly the same principle as when you file your tax return.
You paid provisional contributions in 2023. In the end, your actual income for that year turned out to be lower. Your social security contributions are recalculated, and you’ll get €960.64 back from your social security fund in 2025.
Not bad, right? But how do you reflect these refunded social security contributions in your accounting?
Getting a reimbursement of your social contributions? Great news! But it needs the right accounting and tax treatment. In your bookkeeping, you record the reimbursement as a negative expense.
On your tax return, box XVII – 1632 should, in principle, show the net amount: the contributions you paid that year, minus the reimbursement. If the reimbursement is smaller than what you paid, that figure stays positive and nothing else changes.
If the reimbursement is larger than what you paid that year, the total becomes negative. Tax on Web doesn't accept a negative amount in box XVII – 1632, so you have two options:
This keeps everything transparent and helps you avoid surprises from the tax authorities. Accountable is happy to make this easy for you. Our app calculates exactly how much you owe in social contributions and reminds you when payment is due.
Let's say you get a refund in 2025 for social security contributions you overpaid in 2023. This refund needs to be included in your tax return for 2025 income (tax year 2026), even though the original payment was made in an earlier year (2023).
This is one of the rare cases where an accounting operation is carried out in one year and then corrected for tax purposes in a different year.
Accountable likes to make things easier for you. Our app calculates the exact amount of social security contributions you need to pay and reminds you to pay them.
Try Accountable free for 14 days!
Sometimes you don't get a refund, but instead have to pay extra social security contributions. If this happens to you, simply record the payment as an additional cost for the year in which you pay it. This cost is tax-deductible, just like your regular social security contributions.
Note that the tax authorities only take into account the contributions you actually paid during the calendar year in question. Did you pay an additional amount in 2025 for 2023? Then deduct it on your tax return for your 2025 income (tax year 2026).
You can happen that you receive a refund that’s higher than what you actually paid that year in social security contributions, for example, due to a correction from several previous years. This isn’t something to worry about. Simply enter the amount received as a negative cost, or credit note. The tax authorities will automatically record the correct distribution over the relevant years via your tax return.
It’s normal for your actual income not to match your estimated or provisional income exactly. However, if you find that you’re paying considerably too much (or too little) in social security contributions, consider adjusting the amount of your social security contributions.
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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