Do I have to declare a foreign broker account in my Belgian tax return for income year 2025?
31 mai 2026
Do I have to declare a foreign broker in Belgium? Yes, Belgian residents may need PCC/NBB and tax return reporting for 2025.
Yes. If you are a Belgian tax resident and hold a foreign broker account or foreign securities account during income year 2025, you generally have to declare the account to the Belgian Central Point of Contact and mention it in your Belgian personal income tax return for assessment year 2026. This obligation may apply even if the broker is registered with the National Bank of Belgium, and the correct treatment depends on your individual situation.
The figures below are illustrative and relate to income year 2025, assessment year 2026.
The key issue: the simplified tax proposal may be incomplete
Many employees receive a Belgian proposed simplified tax return because their salary data are transmitted automatically by their employer. In a typical case, the proposal may already include the salary, withholding tax, commuting reimbursement, employment benefits and municipal tax.
For example, an employee’s proposal for income year 2025 may show:
ordinary salary and wages of around €54,000;
taxable professional income after the lump-sum professional expense allowance of around €48,500;
non-recurring results-linked benefits of around €2,500, exempt in the tax calculation;
withholding tax already deducted of around €15,900;
a small final balance to pay, for example around €100.
At first sight, this may look coherent. The employer’s payroll withholding may be broadly aligned with the final Belgian tax liability.
However, this does not mean the tax position is complete. If the taxpayer also has a foreign broker account, the simplified proposal may have to be corrected or replaced by a tax return mentioning that foreign account.
Declaring the foreign broker account: two separate obligations
A Belgian resident who holds a foreign bank account, foreign securities account or similar financial account generally has two distinct reporting obligations.
First, the account must be declared to the Central Point of Contact at the National Bank of Belgium. This is often referred to as the PCC/NBB declaration.
Second, the existence of the foreign account must be mentioned annually in the Belgian personal income tax return.
These are reporting obligations. In many cases, declaring the existence of the account does not create tax by itself. But not declaring it can create unnecessary compliance risk, especially because foreign financial institutions may exchange information with the Belgian tax authorities under international automatic exchange rules.
The important practical point is this: a broker being registered with the NBB does not automatically mean that the taxpayer’s personal reporting obligations have been fulfilled.
Does a foreign broker change the tax due for 2025?
Not necessarily.
If the investor only holds accumulating ETFs and does not sell them or receive distributions during income year 2025, there may be no Belgian personal income tax triggered by the ETFs themselves, assuming the investments fall within normal private wealth management.
The tax issue is therefore not always an immediate extra income tax bill. The main issue may be compliance:
was the foreign account declared to the PCC/NBB?
was it mentioned in the assessment year 2026 Belgian tax return?
did the broker correctly charge Belgian tax on stock exchange transactions?
are the ETF ISINs and transaction reports available?
are the portfolio values documented for future capital gains rules?
In other words, the problem is often not that the simplified tax proposal is numerically wrong on salary. The problem is that it may be incomplete because it does not mention the foreign account.
Belgian TOB on ETF purchases through a foreign broker
The tax on stock exchange transactions is a separate issue from the personal income tax return.
When a Belgian resident buys or sells securities through a foreign professional intermediary, Belgian TOB may still be due if the broker does not withhold or pay it. If the broker has not handled the tax, the investor may have to declare and pay it separately.
For ETFs, the rate is not always the same. Depending on the legal structure, registration and share class, Belgian TOB may be charged at 0.12%, 0.35% or 1.32%, subject to the applicable caps.
This is why the exact ISINs of the ETFs matter. Two ETFs that look similar from an investment perspective can have different Belgian transaction tax treatment.
Accumulating ETFs and Belgian dividend tax
Accumulating ETFs usually do not distribute cash dividends to the investor. As a result, there is generally no Belgian dividend withholding tax to reclaim in the personal income tax return if no dividends were actually received.
Belgium does provide a dividend exemption for certain eligible dividends, but this should not be automatically applied to ETF or fund income. In addition, if the ETF is accumulating and pays no dividend, there is normally nothing to reclaim under that mechanism.
The practical conclusion is simple: do not assume that an accumulating ETF creates a dividend declaration or dividend reclaim in the tax return. The correct treatment depends on the product, the broker report and the income actually received.
Why the 31 December 2025 portfolio value matters
From 1 January 2026, Belgium has introduced a new capital gains tax regime on financial assets. For assets acquired before 2026, the reference value at 31 December 2025 may be important for future calculations.
Even if no ETF sale is planned immediately, an investor should keep clear evidence of:
purchase dates;
purchase prices;
ETF ISINs;
broker transaction confirmations;
broker tax reports;
portfolio value at 31 December 2025.
This documentation may become relevant if securities are sold later under the new capital gains regime.
Employment income: the proposal may still be broadly correct
In the typical employee case, the salary part of the Belgian tax proposal may be coherent. For income year 2025, the federal personal income tax brackets include 25%, 40%, 45% and 50%, before municipal tax and specific reductions.
Where taxable professional income after the lump-sum professional expense allowance is around €48,500, the taxpayer is close to the top bracket. The automatic employee professional expense allowance may already be applied, up to the relevant maximum.
If actual professional expenses do not exceed the lump-sum allowance, the standard allowance is usually the simpler and more favourable option.
This means that, in many cases, the real issue is not to recalculate every salary figure in the proposal. It is to check whether items outside payroll, such as foreign accounts and investment taxes, have been properly handled.
Company car, fuel card and personal contribution
If an employee has a company car, the taxable benefit in kind is calculated using a formula based on the catalogue value, 6/7, the age coefficient and the CO₂ percentage. For income year 2025, the benefit cannot fall below the statutory minimum.
A fuel card linked to the company car normally does not create a separate taxable benefit if the car benefit is already taxed forfaitarily.
A personal contribution by the employee may reduce the taxable car benefit if it is legally treated as a genuine contribution for private use of the company car. However, the treatment may be different if the deduction is part of a cafeteria plan, mobility arrangement or another payroll mechanism.
The practical check is to ask payroll whether the contribution is actually deducted from the taxable benefit in kind or whether it is only a net deduction under another scheme.
Pension savings: a simple future optimisation
For an employee who is already well pre-funded through withholding tax, the most straightforward personal tax optimisation may be third-pillar pension savings.
For income years 2025 and 2026, the relevant limits are:
up to €1,050, with a 30% tax reduction, i.e. a maximum reduction of €315;
more than €1,050 up to €1,350, with a 25% tax reduction, i.e. a maximum reduction of €337.50.
From a purely tax-reduction perspective, the higher ceiling only becomes more attractive once the contribution exceeds the break-even level. Many taxpayers therefore choose the lower ceiling because it gives a stronger tax reduction relative to the amount invested.
However, pension savings should not be assessed only through the tax reduction. It is less liquid than a normal investment account and has its own long-term tax rules.
Legal cohabitation: useful only in specific income situations
Legal cohabitation or marriage does not automatically reduce tax.
The main possible benefit is the marital quotient, which can apply when one partner has no or low professional income. In that case, part of the higher-earning partner’s professional income can be allocated to the lower-earning partner for tax calculation purposes.
For assessment year 2026, the maximum amount that can be allocated under this mechanism is €13,460. For assessment year 2027, it is €13,800.
If both partners have similar salaries, the benefit is usually limited or nil. Legal cohabitation also has civil law consequences, so it should not be entered into only for tax reasons.
Practical checklist for a Belgian resident with a foreign broker in 2025
For income year 2025, the priority should be to verify the following points:
Do not passively accept the simplified tax proposal if the foreign securities account is missing.
Check whether the foreign broker account has been declared to the PCC/NBB.
Mention the foreign account in the assessment year 2026 Belgian tax return.
Verify whether Belgian TOB was charged on all 2025 ETF purchases and sales.
Keep the full 2025 broker transaction report.
Keep a list of all ETF ISINs.
Keep proof of portfolio value at 31 December 2025.
Review whether any ETFs have a bond or cash component that could create additional Belgian tax issues.
Consider pension savings for 2026 if no third-pillar pension savings are currently used.
Ask payroll to clarify any company car personal contribution or mobility deduction.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to declare a foreign broker account if no tax is due?
Yes. The obligation to declare the existence of a foreign account is separate from whether the account generates taxable income. Even if no tax is due, the account may still have to be reported.
Is my foreign broker account automatically declared if the broker is registered with the NBB?
Not necessarily. A broker’s registration does not automatically prove that your personal PCC/NBB declaration and annual tax return reporting obligations have been fulfilled.
Should I accept my simplified tax proposal if I have a foreign securities account?
You should not simply accept it if the foreign account is not mentioned. The proposal may need to be corrected or replaced by a Belgian tax return mentioning the foreign account.
Do accumulating ETFs create Belgian dividend tax?
Usually not if they do not distribute dividends. But the exact treatment depends on the ETF, the broker report and whether any income was actually received.
Who pays Belgian TOB when I use a foreign broker?
If the foreign broker does not charge Belgian TOB, the Belgian resident investor may have to declare and pay it. The applicable rate for ETFs depends on the precise product and its ISIN.
What documents should I keep for the new 2026 capital gains rules?
Keep purchase confirmations, acquisition prices, ETF ISINs, broker tax reports and the portfolio value at 31 December 2025. These documents may be needed if financial assets are sold later.
This article provides a general framework and is not a personalised tax opinion. Belgian tax rules change regularly, and the correct treatment depends on the exact facts, documents, income year, products and broker used.
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