{"id":15621,"date":"2023-09-08T14:22:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T12:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fix-blog.local\/blog\/dividend-self-employed-company\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T13:29:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T11:29:16","slug":"dividend-self-employed-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/en-be\/blog\/dividend-self-employed-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Dividends: a tax-efficient way to distribute company profits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Distributing company profits in the form of dividends is becoming increasingly popular. Why? Dividends fall under the category of \u2018investment income\u2019, which is generally taxed at fixed rates, unlike professional income.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This makes the tax burden on dividends more predictable and generally significantly lower than on a traditional salary.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this page, we explain what dividends are and how you can pay them out as a company director.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a dividend?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dividends constitute \u2018moveable\u2019 income. In principle, in Belgium, they\u2019re subject to a fixed rate of 30% withholding tax. However, this is not always the case.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to various political agreements, there are several reduced and therefore more attractive tax rates, including through the VVPR-bis<\/strong> regime and liquidation reserves<\/strong> (we\u2019ll come back to those).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dividends are always paid to a company’s shareholders.<\/strong> If you have a management company, for example, the sole shareholder is usually the company’s director. With this type of company, the director pays their own salary directly from their company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s therefore more advantageous to limit remuneration in the form of salary, because this income is heavily taxed: taking into account personal income tax, social security contributions and municipal tax, taxes on salary can be up to 60%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why many entrepreneurs choose to limit their salary and use dividends as an alternative way to take money out of their company.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

VVPR-bis and liquidation reserves: smart ways to distribute dividends<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The VVPR-bis regime<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Under the VVPR-bis regime, a shareholder can pay out dividends at only 15% withholding tax.<\/strong> This is half the ‘normal’ withholding tax of 30%.<\/p>\n\n\n \n

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VVPR-Bis rate increase incoming<\/strong><\/p>\n

The withholding tax rate on VVPR-Bis dividends currently stands at 15%<\/strong>. The federal government plans to raise this to 18%<\/strong> via the new programme law. This law has not yet been voted on, but will come into force on the first day of the month following its publication in the Belgian Official Gazette \u2014 at the earliest on 1 June 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As long as the law has not been published, the current rate of 15% remains applicable.<\/strong> Would you like to make use of the favourable rate while it lasts? Make sure to seek guidance from an accountant in good time.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n\n\n\n

To benefit from VVPR-bis dividends, you must meet the following strict conditions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n