8.2% of tax declarations in Brussels were done in Dutch in 2019, which is a slight increase compared to 2016, when it was only 7.2%.
The majority, 91.8%, of people living in Brussels opted to declare their taxes in French, based on figures by the FPS Finance, reports L'Echo.
Official language censuses in Belgium have been abolished since 1961, but the choice of language for tax declarations gives a rough idea of the number of French and Dutch speakers in Brussels, not taking multilingual families or families speaking another language into account, reports Bruzz.
Most Dutch tax returns, 12.7%, were filed in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe. Uccle, with 4.8%, had the lowest number.
Additionally, in the municipalities around Brussels, which have become mainly French-speaking despite being part of Flanders, the number of French declaration has also dropped from 70.7% to 65.6% in the past four years.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
