This is “painful” news that many have received in their mailboxes in recent weeks: the invitation to pay property tax is one of the bad news that Belgian owners could do without.
The property tax is the tax that brings in the most money for municipalities. In 2024, an election year, the municipalities were cautious and did not increase the additional cents. This could change in 2025, after the installation of the new majorities. The indexation of cadastral income continued (4% this year and probably 3% next year).
What is this withholding tax?
Property tax is a tax payable each year on real estate. It’s a kind of property tax. The calculation of the property tax is carried out on the basis of the indexed cadastral income. It is basically a regional tax, but it is the additional cents applied in addition by the provinces and municipalities which now constitute the majority of it.
Who should pay it?
Any person who, on January 1st of the year, holds a “real right” to the home, must pay the property tax. A tenant does not have to pay it and the landlord cannot pass on its cost to the tenant. In the case of new construction, the year following its commissioning will be the first during which you will be liable for property tax.
How is the amount calculated?
The tax, which is regional, consists of a percentage, set by each region, of the cadastral income. 1.25% for Wallonia and Brussels, 3.97% in Flanders. To this regional tax are added “additional cents” at the provincial and municipal level. Each province and each municipality can set the applicable rate.
Why has the amount to be paid increased so much in recent years?
Two main reasons:
Indexing of cadastral income : the cadastral income is the estimated income for renting the property for one year. The last estimate dates from 1979. Prices increased, housing evolved, and it was never seen again. This is why before the other calculations, an indexation is applied to the cadastral income, which corresponds to the evolution of the cost of living during the same period.
However, the energy crisis has caused prices to skyrocket significantly. This increase is seen with a slight delay reflected in the cadastral income which jumped by 9.6% from 2022 to 2023 and which increases by another 4% in 2024. In total, over the last three years, the cadastral income will have increased considerably , with an increase of more than 17%. The indexation of cadastral income will increase the property tax by more than 3% in 2025.
Additional cents : it is an “additional” tax of 13 to 42 times the basic value. This “additional” tax has become the main part of what you pay and the main tax resource for municipalities. As a result, in the years of crisis, some municipalities were tempted to further increase the rate of additional centimes and therefore your final bill. In 2024, no increase in municipal taxes… but perhaps in 2025.
property tax economy
