Home ownership tax relief
Did you take out a mortgage before 1 January 2017 to buy, build or renovate your only property, which you own and occupy as your main residence? You are entitled to a regional income tax reduction.
What is the home ownership tax relief?
The home ownership tax relief was a regional tax benefit: anyone who took out a mortgage to buy, build or renovate their own and only home would pay less personal income tax.
As part of the Brussels-Capital Region's tax reform, the home ownership tax relief was abolished on 1 January 2017. However, the tax relief remains valid for people who took out a mortgage for their own and only home before that date.
Why was the home ownership tax relief abolished?
According to independent experts, the tax relief did not achieve its intended objective. Instead of encouraging home purchases, its introduction had undesirable effects, namely:
- Real estate prices rose, especially for smaller, lower-quality homes, due to the flat-rate nature of the tax relief.
- There was discrimination between single people and couples, as the latter were able to benefit from a double reduction.
- Buyers with sufficient means still took out mortgages solely to take advantage of this tax benefit.
Furthermore, in the long term, the home ownership tax relief was becoming financially unsustainable.
For these reasons, the Brussels Government decided to abolish the tax relief and replace it with an External linkincreased abatement in registration duties when buying a single, owner-occupied home.
More information
Any questions about the home ownership tax relief? Contact the Opens in new windowFPS Finance, the public service that manages this tax reduction.