The new capital gains tax – What to expect ?
At the time of writing, the new capital gains tax has not yet been debated in parliament. No official draft legislation has been published, nor has an explanatory memorandum. Nevertheless, the outlines of the capital gains tax are gradually becoming clear. However, many questions remain unanswered...
The capital gains tax will have a very broad scope, with different rates, exemptions, etc. In what follows, however, we will limit ourselves to the impact of the new legislation on your securities portfolio at ABN AMRO MeesPierson.
1. Who is covered ?
The tax will only be payable by (1) individuals and (2) entities subject to the legal entities tax, except for those who can issue tax certificates for donations received. Belgian companies are excluded from the scope, as are non-residents of Belgium. In the case of split ownership, the capacity of the bare owner is decisive. And because of its tax transparent nature, in the case of partnerships, the capacity of the underlying partners must be considered.
2. On what is the tax due?
Only capital gains realized as a result of a transfer for valuable consideration of financial assets will be taxable. All possible securities on your trading account will be concerned: shares, bonds, funds, ETFs, derivatives (options, futures, swaps, …), up to and including exchange rate result.
Transfers resulting from a gift or inheritance remain outside the scope of application.
3. How will the capital gain be calculated?
The taxable capital gain is equal to the positive difference between the sales price received and the (fiscal) acquisition value.
Especially with regard to the acquisition value, there are important points of attention:
- the planned effective date of the law is January 1, 2026. All (not yet realized) capital accumulation up to December 31, 2025 will not be taken into account. Consequently, the fiscal acquisition value will be the closing price of the securities as of December 31, 2025. For taxable transfers up to and including December 31, 2030, a higher, actual purchase price may be proven.
- in case of multiple purchases of the same security, the FIFO principle (“first in, first out”) will apply.
- since gifts/inheritances do not constitute a taxable transfer, the gifted/deceased securities are transferred to the beneficiary with preservation of the (fiscal) acquisition price of the donor/deceased. There is no step-up. The deferred tax burden in such cases will therefore also pass to the donee/heir.
- on immigration from 2026, notwithstanding the foregoing, the (fiscal) acquisition value will be equal to the value of the securities at that time.
4. Rate, exemptions and reductions
The capital gains tax will be 10%. However, there is provision for an exemption (to be indexed annually) of EUR 10,000.00 per person. Capital gains up to that amount will not be taxable. In addition, realized capital losses will be deductible but not transferable.
Belgian banks will presumably withhold 10% on each individual realized capital gain (-> technically: liberating withholding tax). If a taxpayer wants to claim his/her exemption and/or wants to settle realized capital losses, this will have to be done through the personal income tax return. This will result in a loss of anonymity.
A completely new feature is that taxpayers will be able to opt out of having tax withheld by their bank. In that case, taxpayers will have to correctly calculate all capital gains realized and include them in their tax return. The capital gains tax will then be payable upon receipt of the tax assessment notice.
5. "Reynders-tax"
Contrary to what was initially proposed, the Reynders tax will not be abolished, but will probably remain unchanged.
When a qualifying fund is sold, 30% Reynders tax will usually be charged on part of the realized capital gain. The part of the capital gain that is not subject to this tax, will form the taxable base for the capital gains tax.