Tax on securities accounts in Belgium: threshold, calculation and filing

Key takeaways

• The annual tax on securities accounts (TACT) applies to accounts whose average value exceeds 1,000,000 euros, regardless of the number of holders.
• The rate, set at 0.15% by the law of 17 February 2021, rises to 0.30% for reference periods ending from 1 June 2026 (programme law of 30 May 2026).
• The average value is calculated over four reference dates (31 December, 31 March, 30 June, 30 September); a cap limits the tax to 10% of the amount above the threshold.
• For a Belgian account, the financial intermediary calculates, declares and withholds the tax automatically; the holder of a foreign account with no representative must act themselves.
• Two operations have been presumed abusive since July 2025: converting instruments into non-book-entry securities and partially transferring them to another account, unless a non-tax motive is proven.

The Belgian tax on securities accounts has applied in its current form since the law of 17 February 2021, and it has just gone through its most significant change: the programme law of 30 May 2026 doubles the rate, from 0.15% to 0.30%, for reference periods ending from 1 June 2026. With the one-million-euro threshold unchanged, the questions of who is liable, how the taxable base is calculated and who handles the filing are often poorly understood, even among holders of significant financial wealth. This guide details the scope, the calculation method, the 2026 rate increase and the filing obligations.

Who is liable and which securities accounts are covered

The tax targets the securities account as such, not its holder: a 1.6 million euro account held by four people remains taxed, since each quarter does not fall below the threshold on its own.

People and accounts concerned

• Belgian resident individuals

  For all their securities accounts, whether opened with a Belgian or a foreign intermediary.

• Legal persons

  Companies, ASBL (non-profits) and foundations subject to Belgian tax, under the same conditions as individuals.

• Structures covered by the Cayman tax

  Foreign trusts and entities covered by the Cayman tax regime may also be concerned for securities accounts held by the structure.

• Non-residents

  Only for securities accounts held with an intermediary established in Belgium, unless a double-taxation treaty gives the power to tax to the state of residence.

The scope covers the financial instruments held in the account: shares, bonds, collective investment fund units, trackers, options and derivatives. Registered securities held outside a securities account fall outside the tax.

The one-million-euro threshold and the cap

Only accounts whose average value exceeds 1,000,000 euros fall within the scope of the tax. A cap mechanism prevents an account just above the threshold from being penalised disproportionately.

This cap prevents paying the tax from itself pushing the account below the one-million-euro threshold the following year. At the 0.30% rate, it stops applying once the taxable base exceeds 1,030,927.84 euros, the amount beyond which the full tax always remains below 10% of the excess.

Calculation: reference period and the 2026 rate increase

The reference period runs from 1 October to 30 September of the following year. The authorities take the value of the financial instruments at four precise dates, then calculate their average.

1. 1

   31 December, 31 March, 30 June, 30 September

   Every period

   Four readings of the value of the account's financial instruments, averaged to obtain the calculation base for the period.

2. 2

   Up to and including 31 May 2026

   Past

   Rate of 0.15% applicable to reference periods ending before this date.

3. 3

   From 1 June 2026

   Current

   Entry into force of the 0.30% rate, stemming from the programme law of 30 May 2026 (Belgian Official Gazette of 1 June 2026), for any reference period ending on or after this date.

4. 4

   30 September 2026

   Current reference

   End of the first reference period fully covered by the new 0.30% rate.

Concretely, an account whose average value stands at 1,500,000 euros for a period closing after 1 June 2026 bears a tax of 0.30% on that base, or 4,500 euros, compared with 2,250 euros under the former 0.15% rate. Doubling the rate changes nothing about how the average value is calculated or about the one-million-euro threshold: only the percentage applied to the taxable base changes.

Filing and payment: the role of the financial intermediary

For an account opened with a Belgian intermediary (bank, stockbroking firm, fund management company), the mechanism is automatic: the intermediary calculates the taxable base, files the return and withholds the tax without any action from the holder.

The situation differs for an account held abroad. If the foreign intermediary has appointed a responsible representative in Belgium, that representative carries the same obligations as a Belgian intermediary. Failing that, it is up to the account holder, or one of the joint holders on behalf of all of them, to file the return and pay the tax themselves via MyMinfin, by 31 August of the year following the end of the reference period at the latest.

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Anti-abuse measures to know

The first version of this tax, from a 2018 law, was entirely struck down by the Constitutional Court (ruling no. 138/2019 of 17 October 2019). The 2021 version held up better under scrutiny: in its ruling no. 138/2022 of 27 October 2022, the Court only struck down a specific abuse presumption and the retroactive effect of the general anti-abuse measure, leaving the rest of the mechanism intact.

The legislator reintroduced a targeted anti-abuse mechanism through the programme law of 18 July 2025, which entered into force on 29 July 2025. Two operations are now presumed, rebuttably, to constitute tax abuse when the value of the financial instruments concerned reaches 1,000,000 euros:

Operations covered by the abuse presumption

• Converting instruments into non-book-entry securities

  Taking instruments out of the account to hold them in another form, just before a reference date.

• Partially transferring them to another securities account

  Splitting the instruments across several accounts so that each one falls below the one-million-euro threshold.

The presumption can be rebutted if the holder shows that the operation reflects a motive other than tax avoidance, for example a family or estate-planning reason. Absent an accepted justification, a supplementary return must be filed according to the procedures set by the authorities, and the corresponding tax paid by 31 August at the latest.

Further reading

• Capital gains tax on financial assets in Belgium: the taxation that applies when reselling the same financial instruments, distinct from the annual tax on securities accounts.
• Setting up an asset holding company in Belgium: one of the structures worth examining for holding significant financial wealth.
• SPF Finances: tax on securities accounts: the official reference for filing and payment procedures.