Just as every new year brings good intentions, every new year brings some changes for the self-employed in Belgium. Want to know what’s new? Here are the main changes in 2026 in terms of tax!
The time has come: since 1 January 2026, Peppol e-invoicing has been the standard. All Belgian B2B invoices must now be sent electronically and in a structured format (such as XML) via the Peppol network.
There is currently a tolerance period of three months (until March 2026) for self-employed people who are not yet fully compliant. Please note, the tolerance is only valid if you can demonstrate that you've made efforts to get your Peppol registration in order on time.
With Accountable, you can register your VAT number with Peppol for free in less than 2 minutes. Even in our permanently free plan, you can send and receive unlimited e-invoices.
Do you have the status of natural person (i.e. a sole trader)? If so, your income is subject to personal income tax. Are you the director of a company? In this case too, the salary you pay yourself is taxed under the personal income tax regime.
Here are the tax brackets for the 2025 and 2026 income year.
| Income year 2025 (tax year 2026) | Income year 2026 (tax year 2027) | |
| Tax bracket | Income bracket | Income bracket |
| 25% | €0 - €16,320 | €0 - €16,720 |
| 40% | €16,320 - €28,800 | €16,720 - €29,510 |
| 45% | €28,800 - €49,840 | €29,510 - €51,070 |
| 50% | > €49,840 | > €51,070 |
Although it’s not mandatory to make advance tax payments, it’s highly recommended. Because if you don't, you’ll be subject to an increase in the amount you have to pay. Put simply: without advance payments, you’ll end up paying 4.5% more in tax in the end.
⚠️ Have you been self-employed for less than 3 years? If that’s the case, this tax increase doesn’t impact you, even if you choose not to make advance payments.
If you make your advance payments before the deadlines mentioned below, you get a tax 'bonus' that effectively neutralises the increase, reducing it from 4.5% to 0%.
| Payment deadline | Tax benefit | |
| Q1 | before April 10th | 6% |
| Q2 | before July 10th | 5% |
| Q3 | before October 12th | 4% |
| Q4 | before December 21st | 3% |
💡 Read more about advance payments here
You pay a maximum of 20.5% of your net taxable income in social security contributions. The exact amount depends on your income, your professional status, and the admin fees charged by your social security fund.
💡 Read more here about social security contributions
Do your invoices partly consist of copyright income? In 2026, a fixed rate of 15% still applies to moveable income. The distribution key of 30% copyright income and 70% professional income is also retained.
What is changing?
💡 Read more about copyright taxation here
As of 2025, there were several new VAT rules to comply with. The renewed VAT chain also remains applicable in 2026:
💡 Learn more about the new VAT chain
As a self-employed person, you have until October 2026 to file your personal income tax return (exact date to follow).
💡 Discover all the important deadlines for the self-employed in Belgium
Author - Artyom Ghazaryan
Artyom is Head of Accounting at Accountable, and a chartered Accountant & Tax Specialist.
Who is Artyom ?Thank you for your feedback!
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