Contracting in Belgium - A Short Guide to Tax and Social Security

[Sergeant Murphys Cosh]

I’ve often toyed with the idea of booking a room, and inviting the masses to a briefing session, or whatever. I just don’t want to find that members of the audience include non contractors who have ulterior motives.

Whenever I rent out a hotel room and invite the masses, I find my night's activities on a DVD for sale on the web somewhere.

Damn, did I say that out loud?

[Brussels Slumdog]

Only IT Contractors and not Tax Advisers

I am more than willing to provide details but was hoping to be able to "pay back"
for the answers in the form of nice cool drink of your choice
Do you guys meet once a fiscal year to brag/moan about work and everything else?

I swear I'm not dangerous and it's more than possible that I'm no competition (I specialize in a very narrow IT topic).
Just looking for some real life advice on how to manage living in this country.

If it was up to me alone, I wouldn't care too much and move around the whole EU
but it just so happens that my wife and kids like it here (strange?).

The basic problem is that people like Nodric and myself are not legal tax advisers. We only give our advice
based on advice that we have received from our tax advisers based on our particular situation. I am willing to
try and give advice on this forum but by holding a public meeting in a hotel room might legally imply that I am a legal tax expert
Nodric seems to have family committments in Belgium and probabily 100% of his Contract income comes from Belgium so he has spent a considerable amount of time seeking legal advice to legally maximize his income
I have family committments in Belgium and probabily 80% of my Contract income over the last 5 years has come from non Belgian revenue.
All my research on maximizing my income relates to "Belgium - Other Countries" - Double Taxation Agreements
and social security agreements. My long term objective is to be able to complete my tax return by myself and not have to pay someone to complete the form.
Unless I obtain a long term contract in Belgium I currently have no intent of forming a company being self employed.
Example Belgium uses the progressive taxation method whereas UK uses the Tax Credit Method .
€30,000 less tax earned in Germany,Netherlands,France (Border Countries) is exempt for normal tax but not from local tax
€30,000 less tax earned elsewhere is not subject to local tax

Unless you tell us whether you are ECC or Non ECC and which country you are tax resident its always difficult to give a correct answer to your question.

[mk22]

Thanks for all the information, hoping to get a notification if somebody gets some social ideas.

BS: talking to a Dutch friend I got a hint to use independer <link removed - Google independer if you need it - admin> for health insurance,
looks like this is the cheapest option.

Nordic: your Contractor Owned ManCo sounds too good to be true and, (un)fortunately,
I am in no position at the moment to participate (no real added value for those working in NL).
Be sure that I'll (revise my view|check out progress) once I change assignments.

[mk22]

The basic problem is that people like Nodric and myself are not legal tax advisers. We only give our advice
based on advice that we have received from our tax advisers based on our particular situation. I am willing to
try and give advice on this forum but by holding a public meeting in a hotel room might legally imply that I am a legal tax expert
Nodric seems to have family committments in Belgium and probabily 100% of his Contract income comes from Belgium so he has spent a considerable amount of time seeking legal advice to legally maximize his income
I have family committments in Belgium and probabily 80% of my Contract income over the last 5 years has come from non Belgian revenue.
All my research on maximizing my income relates to "Belgium - Other Countries" - Double Taxation Agreements
and social security agreements. My long term objective is to be able to complete my tax return by myself and not have to pay someone to complete the form.
Unless I obtain a long term contract in Belgium I currently have no intent of forming a company being self employed.
Example Belgium uses the progressive taxation method whereas UK uses the Tax Credit Method .
€30,000 less tax earned in Germany,Netherlands,France (Border Countries) is exempt for normal tax but not from local tax
€30,000 less tax earned elsewhere is not subject to local tax

Unless you tell us whether you are ECC or Non ECC and which country you are tax resident its always difficult to give a correct answer to your question.

1. frankly, I'd consider myself crazy if I did take the advices on the forum as any sort of legal advice.
I think of this place as a nice pot of people's ideas about "what it's like" and "what I think I know".
Let's face it, a forum thread is no tax advice material. Have you ever taken a print-out and run to your accountant?

2. my "socializing" question was just that. I want to socialize, in my view it's similar to the board like this, just quicker and more direct.
Even better, would you take legal advice/hint from a person you would never even consider having a drink with?

3. I'm Polish by birth (oh, I can see the flames ... "it's time to burn this Polack for taking our jobs!!!" )

[nodric]

1. frankly, I'd consider myself crazy if I did take the advices on the forum as any sort of legal advice.
I think of this place as a nice pot of people's ideas about "what it's like" and "what I think I know".
Let's face it, a forum thread is no tax advice material. Have you ever taken a print-out and run to your accountant?

2. my "socializing" question was just that. I want to socialize, in my view it's similar to the board like this, just quicker and more direct.
Even better, would you take legal advice/hint from a person you would never even consider having a drink with?

3. I'm Polish by birth (oh, I can see the flames ... "it's time to burn this Polack for taking our jobs!!!" )

1. The forum is just that, a forum with all its warnings and faults, and its fair selection of loonies and eccentrics

However, experience counts for a great deal in this game, and trust me when I tell you, that accountants vary vastly in quality and knowledge

2. If someone wants to set up a pub crawl in Brussels, I’ll turn up, albeit with a different name

3. Well you’re not in the UK, where most of the anti-Polish/EU economic migrant sentiment emanates. I’m in Brussels, and lots of other Brits are in Europe, so we’re no different, as much as it will pain some folks to admit that

The key is to know if your were EU or non EU, as that has a significant affect on your tax and work position etc.

[Sergeant Murphys Cosh]

Nordic: your Contractor Owned ManCo sounds too good to be true....

Well, if Cypriot corporation tax is only 10%, you've retained an extra 23.98% already !

[Brussels Slumdog]

More details often needed

1. The forum is just that, a forum with all its warnings and faults, and its fair selection of loonies and eccentrics

However, experience counts for a great deal in this game, and trust me when I tell you, that accountants vary vastly in quality and knowledge

2. If someone wants to set up a pub crawl in Brussels, I’ll turn up, albeit with a different name

3. Well you’re not in the UK, where most of the anti-Polish/EU economic migrant sentiment emanates. I’m in Brussels, and lots of other Brits are in Europe, so we’re no different, as much as it will pain some folks to admit that

The key is to know if your were EU or non EU, as that has a significant affect on your tax and work position etc.

This forum was probabily originally set up for UK contractors working locally or abroad. The vast majority of us
are possibly British with the next group being EU nationals. Experience of maybe working in Germany as a Pole
or as a Brit maybe slightly different. Your actual nationality also helps in answering your questions based only on experience
Whether you are a EU weekly commuter(Monday- fryday) Contractor or an Expat contractor ( Move wife children kids dog and kitchen sink to contracting country) also makes a world of difference.

[mk22]

Experience of maybe working in Germany as a Pole
or as a Brit maybe slightly different. Your actual nationality also helps in answering your questions based only on experience
Whether you are a EU weekly commuter(Monday- fryday) Contractor or an Expat contractor ( Move wife children kids dog and kitchen sink to contracting country) also makes a world of difference.

If you put it this way, for me it's obvious I qualify as "expat contractor" (with a small exception - I prefer Belgian sinks).
On the other hand ... wait ... do I still qualify working in a different country now?

Thanks for all the answers, they helped me shaping up the view on the situation.

nordic - I get the point about experience, never doubted that this is the biggest asset of a forum like this.
Please keep me in the list of folks interested in your idea.

[Boo]

if it goes tulip

Sorry, but where does this phrase come from ?

Boo

[nodric]

Sorry, but where does this phrase come from ?

Boo

The site used to have a bad language detector, and replaced all bad words with Tulip. The bad language police seem to have turned it off recently, but some posters still substitute the phrase for the intended bad word. For instance, it's all gone t*ts up becomes, it's all gone Tulip.