The De Wever administration's reforms are not leaving your mutual funds and ETFs untouched either. With the advent of the capital gains tax and a different regime for FDI funds, additional pottery is once again entering the fund landscape. What specifically is changing?
The taxation of funds and ETFs is a perfect example of the complexity with which our country saddles its taxpayers. The different and inexplicable applications of the stock market tax in ETFs, the tax differences between sicavs and mutual funds, and the odious Reynder tax: these are just a few examples that illustrate how complicated taxation is for fund investors.
In the search for new revenue, the De Wever government is unpacking some new taxes that add another layer of complexity.
As of Jan. 1, 2026, the capital gains tax will go into effect. If all goes well, because the banks have already indicated several times that they may not finish implementation by the end of this year. They are also still waiting for the final legal texts, so last minute adjustments cannot be ruled out. But the major modalities are in place.
Those who sell their funds or ETFs starting next year will now pay a capital gains tax of 10 percent. The capital gain is calculated by reducing the sale price by the purchase price. If the fund was bought earlier, the purchase price will be taken as the price on Dec. 31, 2025.
But if the effective purchase rate in that case is higher and you can prove it, you may take that effective purchase rate. That way, you avoid paying capital gains tax on a capital gain you did not realize. This reverting to the effective purchase price before December 31, 2025 is possible until December 31, 2030. From then on, the rate at the end of 2025 will always apply to old purchases.
Importantly, you get an annual exemption. Capital gains of up to 10,000 euros - across all your investments - are exempt from tax each year. If you don't use the exemption one year, 1,000 euros is added the next year. This continues up to a maximum of five years and the ceiling of 15,000 euros exemption in one year.
Those who want the exemption will have to request it themselves through their tax return. Also, if you want to take advantage of the higher purchase rate before Dec. 31, 2025, you will have to request it yourself through your tax return.
The same applies to the capital losses you charge. If you sold securities at a loss that year, you can deduct that capital loss from the taxable capital gain. This must also be done through the tax return.
Those who bought their fund or ETF through a Belgian bank or intermediary can choose. Either the bank deducts the capital gains tax immediately upon sale. This is also the case, for example, for the withholding tax on dividends. The other possibility is to opt out. In that case, the bank will not deduct capital gains tax and you must declare it in your tax return. Those who sell their funds with a foreign bank or broker may have to declare the capital gains tax themselves anyway, because the foreign players do not deduct Belgian taxes. This is important for ETF investors who are clients of foreign brokers.
Of the 300 billion euros that Belgians hold in funds and ETFs, about 178 billion is in funds that invest at least 10 percent in fixed income securities and are therefore subject to the Reynder tax.
These are mainly bond funds or mixed (stocks and bonds) funds.
The Reynder tax of 30 percent has been in place since 2006 and is applied to the capital gains investors realize through the fixed income portion of their fund when they sell. For example, if you sell a mixed fund that invests in both stocks and bonds, only the capital gain the fund achieved through the bonds is taxed. Unless there is a capital loss on the equity portion, then that capital loss is deducted first. If the investor sells his fund at a loss, but there is a capital gain from the bond portion, then no Reynder tax applies.
To avoid the introduced capital gains tax leading to double taxation for fund investors, the new tax will only tax capital gains not covered by the Reynder tax.
To understand how this works practically, we will give some examples. We start from the three methods used today to hold off the Reynderstaks.
1. TIS value
The purest calculation of the Reynder tax is based on the TIS value. This is the portion of the inventory value that includes the fund's income from fixed income securities. Like the inventory value, the TIS value is calculated daily. When the fund is sold, the TIS value is reduced by the TIS value at the time of purchase. A 30 percent Reynderstax then applies to this.
To calculate the new 10 percent capital gains tax, the entire capital gain will first be reduced by the TIS capital gain. The 10 percent capital gains tax will then be deducted from that difference.
Example
An investor buys a mixed capitalization fund (25% bonds and 75% stocks) on January 1, 2026 for 150 euros. The TIS value at that time is 10. He sells his fund on June 30, 2028 for 250 euros. The TIS value at that time is 20.
The capital gain under the new capital gains tax is 100 euros (250-150). Of that, 10 euros (20-10) comes from the increase in TIS value. That 10 is taxed by the Reynder tax at 30 percent: 3 euros.
The remaining 90 (100-10) is taxed at 10 percent: 9 euros. Reynderstax and capital gains tax then add up to 12 euros (9+3).
Note that if you had already bought the fund in 2025 or earlier, you will also pay Reynderstax on the bond capital gains you realized before Jan. 1, 2026. You will not pay capital gains tax on the other capital gains before 2026.
2. Fall-back method
Almost all Belgian fund houses calculate a Belgian TIS value because the Belgian market is their main market. But this is not the case for the many foreign fund houses that offer their funds in Belgium.
Often, for those funds, they will not bother to calculate such a Belgian TIS value on a daily basis.
In this case, the Reynderstaks must be calculated on the basis of the asset test. This measures the average percentage of fixed income securities in the fund over the past year. This can then be used to calculate an approximation of the bond capital gain required to deduct the Reynderstaks.
Example
Suppose a fund invests 30 percent in fixed income and you sell the fund with 100 euros capital gain. Then, based on the asset test, it is assumed that 30 euros (30% of 100 euros) capital gain comes from fixed-income securities. You then pay 9 euros Reynderstaks (30% of 30 euros). The calculation of the capital gains tax of 10 percent is then done on the portion of the capital gain that was not taxed by the Reynderstaks. In this example, that is 70 euros (100-30 euros). You then pay 10 percent capital gains tax on 70 euros, being 7 euros.
3. Full added value
Most foreign fund houses charge an asset test annually, but there are exceptions. In the absence of both a TIS value and an asset test, distributors must then apply the Reynder tax to the entire capital gain of the fund, even if part of the capital gain comes from the equity portion.
Example
Suppose you buy a fund in early 2026 for 100 euros. You sell the fund eight years later for 200 euros. The fund does not calculate a TIS value and there is no asset test. In that case, the Reynderstaks will be calculated on the full capital gain. That then means 30 euros Reynderstaks (30% of 100 euros), even if the fund invests 50% in shares, for example. The consequence, however, is that a capital gains tax of 10 percent no longer has to be paid. After all, the entire capital gain was already subject to the Reynderstaks.
The simple examples illustrate that the calculations will involve a great deal of complexity and exceptions, especially if minus values on the equity portion also come into play. With mutual funds, a legal structure that is tax transparent, the danger lurks around the corner that income will still be taxed twice.
The De Wever government is also nibbling away at the tax benefit of FDI funds, which allow entrepreneurs to invest in equity funds at a tax advantage. FDI stands for Definitively Taxed Income. The FDI deduction is an exemption scheme that conditionally relieves companies from taxes on income from companies they invest in that have already been taxed. Specifically, companies investing in FDI funds can exempt from tax both capital gains and withholding taxes on dividends from the funds.
The 40 FDI funds on the Belgian market contain about 10 billion euros, showing that the funds are popular. The De Wever government is cracking down on the funds' tax advantage.
One measure, a 5 percent capital gains tax on sales, will not be felt in practice. This is due to the technical definition of sale. Entrepreneurs who sell the units of their FDI funds do not do so to a counterparty, but it is the FDI fund itself that redeems those units. Because such redemption is outside the scope of the law, entrepreneurs who sell their FDI funds will in principle escape the 5 percent tax.
The second measure entrepreneurs will feel. From now on, they will only be able to deduct withholding tax on dividends if their company applies the minimum managerial remuneration. This means that the company pays at least one director or manager an annual salary of at least 45,000 euros. Starting in 2026, that threshold will be raised to 50,000 euros.
Companies that are already above the threshold would not have to do anything, although an important condition applies. The salary must be paid to a physical person, not to the company of the manager or director. In other words, companies where all directors are compensated through their own management or director's company generally do not meet this additional condition. Those companies will no longer be able to offset the withholding tax.
Companies in which one or more directors are paid personally, but whose remuneration is less than 45,000 euros, have a choice.
Either they raise wages and can continue to deduct withholding taxes. That results in more taxes on wages for the government. Either they do not deduct the salary and can no longer offset the 30 percent withholding tax. That group undoubtedly includes many management companies that invest in FDI funds and whose founder pays himself a low salary. Each company must weigh what is the best choice.
There is an important caveat, however. If the company makes little profit, the minimum remuneration must be at least equal to the net profit to be allowed to deduct the withholding tax. For example, for companies making 40,000 euros in profit before deduction of remuneration, it is sufficient that they paid 20,000 euros in wages for that year to be able to deduct the withholding tax. Indeed, the net profit is then equal to the minimum salary, namely 20,000 euros.
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