Belgium implements new tax, trade, and healthcare regulations

The Belgian government implemented a series of new regulations in November that affect personal income tax, trade fees, and healthcare services.

These changes include adjustments to how employers deduct withholding tax and new rules for vehicle seizures and energy costs. The Personal Income Tax Reform Act and a Royal Decree modified the tax-free allowance for employees. The HR firm Liantis calculated that most workers will see an increase of 8.47 euros in monthly take-home pay.

However, the marriage allowance for couples where one partner earns little income will decrease gradually toward 2026. Parents also see changes to the tax-free allowance for children, which now provides a small gain for a first child but reduces net pay for parents with two or more children. Shoppers ordering parcels from outside the European Union now face a 2 euro handling fee on top of existing import duties.

This fee aims to fund customs monitoring for the high volume of small packages arriving from China. Additionally, a new law requires magistrates to order the forfeiture of vehicles driven by people who ignore court-imposed driving bans. The state will sell these seized vehicles at public auction. In the healthcare sector, midwives may now charge patients a co-payment for specific insured postnatal and antenatal services.

Patients with certain severe conditions can also access up to 100 reimbursed 60-minute physiotherapy sessions per year. In the region of Wallonia, residents gained the right to be buried in biodegradable body bags or alongside cremated pets. The government also updated the infant vaccination schedule, reducing the number of hexavalent vaccine doses from four to three.