Living expenses in Belgium: tax-deductible amount
July 2022 – If an employee incurs expenses at the request or for the benefit of his employer, the employer will in principle reimburse these expenses. These "employer's own expenses" are not taxable for the employee and are normally deductible for the employer. In principle, the employee must prove the reality and the amount of the expense. But there are exceptions.
Employer's own expenses
If an employee advances expenses for his employer, the tax authorities will not consider their reimbursement as remuneration.
The employer making such reimbursement must be able to prove that the allowance is for expenses that are unique to the employer and that the expenses were actually disbursed (the worker must produce proof of payment to the employer).
If the employer "reimbursed" expenses that were not incurred or reimbursed more than the actual expense, the allowance would be considered as remuneration on which taxes would be due.
Lump sum
In order to avoid an administrative burden of proof, lump sums are used in both tax and social security matters. The big advantage of a lump sum is that it is no longer necessary to prove that the allowance corresponds to the expense. There are many examples of lump sum allowances. Consider allowances for car wash, parking, tolls, home office expenses, entertainment expenses, etc. These allowances are usually subject to rulings.
Other allowances, such as the allowance for living expenses, are communicated by the tax authorities via a circular. At the end of May, the tax authorities published in a single circular the amounts applicable for the period from February 1, 2022 to March 30, 2022 and for the period from April 1, 2022:
From January 1, 2022 to March 30, 2022 inclusive:
Daily lump sum allowance (also known as meal expenses): 18.11 euros per day ;
monthly lump sum (maximum 16 times): 18.11 euros per day; and
additional daily allowance for accommodation (hotel): 135.85 euros per night.
As of April 1, 2022:
daily flat rate allowance (also known as meal allowance): 18.47 euros per day ;
lump sum (maximum 16 times): 18.47 euros per day; and
additional daily allowance for accommodation (hotel): 138.57 euros per night.
Social security
Please note: the "lump sums", as set by the tax authorities, are independent of the lump sums applicable to social security. The NSSO administration does not consider allowances for accommodation expenses as remuneration if they do not exceed
10 euros per day for travel expenses (for the absence of sanitary facilities) ;
7 euros per day for meal expenses; and
35 euros per day if the staff member has to stay on site.
These amounts have not been updated for some time. They apply only to "non-sedentary" staff.
