Tax changes in Belgium: Not all employers are aware of measures to stimulate employment

25 % of the employers did not know about the exemption of social contributions when hiring a first employee. According to a survey published on Wednesday (22 June) by HR Securex, a service provider for human resource management, 22 % of the respondents stated that they have hired workers this year. 37 % of the respondents indicated that the new tax rules had played a role in their employment decisions.

The survey included 500 entrepreneurs.

Just under half (46 %) of the employers had taken notice of the tax measures via media and one in four (27 %) from the social secretariat. Almost one in four did not about the measure. A majority of those who knew about the measure were ignorant about the details.

A package of tax changes, the so-called tax shift, entered into force in Belgium in 2016, aiming at stimulating job creation by shifting taxation from labor to consumption.

As regards social contributions, there is a general reduction from 33 % to 25 %. Furthermore, a company that recruits a first employee receives a full exemption from paying the social contribution for an indefinite period. The exemption is linked to the employer, not the employee.

For the 2nd to 6th recruitment, there is a reduction in the employer’s social contribution during 13 quarters.

The Brussels Times (Source: Belga)


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