Fewer Belgians are choosing the higher tax ceiling for individual pension savings, according to recent surveys by several banks.
The previous federal government had introduced a ceiling for pension savings, allowing more money to be contributed, but with a proportionately smaller tax advantage.
In 2023, the ceiling was €990 for a 30% tax break, or €1,270 for a 25% tax advantage.
This measure, which did not attract many Belgians from the start, seems to be losing even more popularity.
BNP Paribas Fortis reports that only 4.06% of their pension savings fund customers opted for the higher ceiling in 2023, down from 5.69% in 2022.
For pension savings insurance, the figure was even lower, at 2.33% in 2023, down from 2.40% the previous year.
At Belfius, fewer than 1% of pension savings fund savers chose this type of ceiling. “This number is still declining, demonstrating the difficulty of convincing savers with the meagre additional tax advantage of this ceiling,” the bank stressed.
ING Belgique also reported a “very small (about 1%) but stable” number of people opting for a higher ceiling. The bank didn’t have specific figures available as of last Friday.
Traditionally, pension savings funds are more popular than pension savings insurance. The incoming flow decreased slightly in 2023, according to Belfius and ING, or remained the same as the previous year according to BNP Paribas Fortis.
The average return of pension savings funds increased to 6.4% in 2023, but there were significant differences among the various funds.
