Update — Key Takeaways from the 2025 Belgian Budget Agreement

Jacques Malherbe – Advocates (Simont Braun)

Rik Strauven – Advocates (Simont Braun)

This is to provide a concise overview of the newly adopted Belgian federal budget agreement for the 2026–2029 period and to outline the main areas where we may expect impact in the coming months.

Overview of the (Main) Measures

The federal budget package includes a broad mix of tax adjustments and targeted reforms intended to increase revenue and reduce the deficit over the coming years. At a high level, the agreement introduces:

  • Changes to VAT rates: including increases for certain hospitality, leisure and tourism-related services, and adjustments affecting food services.
  • Higher taxes on certain financial assets and transactions: including an increased levy on securities accounts and changes to the taxation of dividends and reserves.
  • Excise duty adjustments: notably higher excise on natural gas, heating oil, petrol and diesel, and a reduced excise rate on electricity.
  • A new levy on small parcels imported from outside the EU: which may affect e-commerce and supply-chain costs.
  • Increases in the flight (embarkation) tax: particularly for medium- and long-haul routes, scaling up gradually over the coming years.
  • Modifications to employment-related tax incentives: including the freezing of certain withholding tax exemptions and the phasing out of specific preferential income regimes.

The government expects the combined measures and planned spending cuts to result in significant budgetary savings by 2029.

Expected Impact for Businesses and Individuals

Although the full implementing texts are still to come, we can already anticipate several trends:

  • Upward price pressure in sectors such as hospitality, travel, leisure and events.
  • Higher operational costs for businesses relying on air travel, logistics networks, or imported consumer goods.
  • Potential consequences for investment strategies due to increased taxation of financial assets and returns.
  • Adjustments needed in compensation planning, particularly where businesses rely on regimes or deductions that will be limited or abolished.”

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Jacques Malherbe – Rik Strauven

Advocates (Simont Braun)