Belgium's Federal Government, led by Prime Minister Bart De Wever (N-VA) plans to permanently stop indexing the marriage quotient from the 2026 income year onwards. By 2029, the tax benefit for non-working partners will be halved.
This was clear in a draft reform bill that L'Echo was able to see. The office of Finance Minister Jan Jambon (N-VA) also confirmed this information to the newspaper.
Thanks to the marriage quotient, the income of one spouse/partner can be allocated to the other spouse/partner with no or low income for tax purposes. As a result, the total amount of tax that the couple (married or legally cohabiting) has to pay is considerably lower than the total amount of tax they would have to pay if the tax authorities considered them both to be single.
According to La Ligue des familles, many families will feel the impact when indexation stops from the 2026 income year onwards. The organisation estimates that 277,000 non-retired households currently use the system.
"This decision represents a significant deterioration in support for families in which one of the members has little or no income," said Jennifer Sevrin, a researcher at the organisation.
