How pay after tax works in Belgium
Belgium has one of the more layered systems in Europe. Employee social security (RSZ/ONSS) of 13.07% comes off gross pay first and is not capped. Income tax is then charged on what remains after a 30% professional-expense deduction, on a scale that climbs quickly from 25% to 50%, reduced by a tax-free allowance that grows with the number of children, and increased by a communal surcharge of around 7%.
Married and legally cohabiting couples can use the marital quotient, which shifts part of one partner's income into the other's lower brackets. Because Belgian pay is spread over roughly 13.92 instalments a year, the payslip take-home differs slightly from the strict year-end assessment, and the calculator reports both so the figure is honest.
What this calculator works out
- Employee social security (RSZ/ONSS)
- Income tax on the 25% to 50% scale with the professional-expense deduction
- The tax-free allowance and child supplements
- The communal surcharge, the special social security contribution and the marital quotient