Registration duties
Registration duties are taxes you must pay when a deed or a document is recorded in a register. There are 4 types of regional registration duties: transfer duty, gift tax, division duty, and mortgage establishment duty.
Any questions about your tax case?
Contact Opens in new windowthe FPS Finance (Administration of Legal Security), which currently manages this tax.
What are registration duties?
Registration duties are indirect taxes that must be paid when a legal deed is subject to registration.
Registration is a formality that involves presenting a deed (e.g. a gift deed) to the registry office (Administration of Legal Security of the FPS Finance). In certain cases, specified by law, registration is mandatory. As a result, certain deeds will always give rise to the payment of registration duties, such as notarial deeds for the sale of real property.
Legislation provides for a wide range of different tax rates, depending on the nature of the legal transaction recorded in the document submitted for registration. Some registration duties must be paid to the Federal State, and others to the regions. The Brussels-Capital Region has authority over:
- registration duties on the transfer, for consideration, of immovable property located in the Brussels-Capital Region (transfer duty).
- registration duties on the establishment of a mortgage on immovable property located in the Brussels-Capital Region (mortgage establishment duty).
- registration duties on partial or total divisions of immovable property located in the Brussels-Capital Region (division duty).
- registration duties on inter vivos gifts of movable or immovable property, provided that the donor's tax domicile is located in the Brussels-Capital Region (gift tax).
Which authority manages this tax?
Since 2002, registration duties have been regionalised. As a result, the Brussels-Capital Region is responsible for setting tax rates, the tax base, and exemptions.
However, the FPS Finance (federal government) still manages the tax service on behalf of the Brussels-Capital Region. It collects the revenue and pays it to the Region. This means that federal administrative procedure rules apply until Brussels Fiscality takes over the tax service.
| Responsabilities | Authority responsible for setting rules |
| Rules on tax rates, tax base, and exemptions | Brussels-Capital Region |
| Administrative procedure rules (e.g. declarations, evidence, tax appeals, etc.) | Federal State |
1. Registration duties on the transfer, for consideration, of immovable property located in the Brussels-Capital Region (transfer duty)
Registration duty on the transfer, for consideration, of immovable property is an indirect tax collected on the registration of any deed of exchange, sale and, in a broader sense, any transfer – for consideration – of ownership or usufruct of immovable property.
This tax is added to the purchase price of the immovable property.
The rate is set at 12.5%. Registration duty is calculated according to the conventional value (plus any charges that the buyer must pay), as agreed by the parties to the sales contract. This value cannot be lower than the market value – i.e. the value at which the property could be sold on the real estate market – of the property.
In the Brussels-Capital Region, you may, under certain conditions, avoid paying registration duties on the first €200,000. More information is available on External linkthe page dedicated to abatement.
More information
See the External linktax information sheet (only available in French and Dutch).
Additional information is also available on External linkthe Federal Public Service Finance website.
2. Registration duties on the establishment of a mortgage on immovable property located in the Brussels-Capital Region
In order to finance the purchase of a property, the buyer will often take out a mortgage. In this case, the credit provider will be granted a mortgage either on the purchased building or on another building belonging to the buyer. The registration of this mortgage is also subject to taxation.
The rate of registration duties on the establishment of a mortgage on immovable property located in the Brussels-Capital Region is 1%. It is calculated based on the amounts guaranteed by the mortgage.
The transfer of a mortgage established on immovable property located in the Brussels-Capital Region is also subject to registration duty. Its rate is also 1% and is calculated based on the amounts guaranteed by the mortgage.
3. Registration duties on partial or total divisions of immovable property located in the Brussels-Capital Region
Tenancy in common is a situation in which several individuals have equal rights to the same property, without being able to determine the precise share of each individual.
- Example 1: Two people (A and B) inherit from their father and are joint owners of two buildings in the estate. Until division takes place, it is not possible to determine who owns what.
- Example 2: In the event of divorce or death, immovable property may remain in shared tenancy, regardless of the marriage regime chosen by the couple.
1. Division duty must be paid on division of property, when joint owners wish to have their share of the property (or properties) determined. This division has a declaratory effect on ownership: it declares which property belongs to each of the parties involved.
- Example: the heirs (A and B) may agree on a division whereby building 1 will be allocated to A and building 2 to B.
2. Division duty must also be paid on transfer of undivided shares, when one of the joint owners transfers their undivided share to another joint owner.
- Example 1: heir A may sell their undivided share in building 1 to heir B, who will have to pay division duty.
- Example 2: in the event of a divorce, division duty must be paid by the person who wishes to remain in their home and buy out their ex-spouse's share.
Division duty rate is set at 1%. The tax base depends on whether the transfer terminates tenancy in common.
When the transfer does not terminate the joint tenancy between all the co-owners of the property being divided, duty is paid on the value of the transferred shares.
- Example: A, B and C are joint owners – 1/3 each – of building 1, valued at €300,000.
A transfers their ownership right (1/3 = €100,000) to B. In this case, the 1% rate is paid on €100,000 (value of the transferred share). Division duty to be paid is therefore €1,000.
When the transfer terminates the joint tenancy between all the co-owners of the property being divided, duty is paid on the value of the property.
- Example: if, a few years later, B transfers their ownership right (2/3 = €200,000) to C, the joint tenancy between B and C is terminated, as C now holds full ownership of the shares. In this case, the 1% rate is paid on €300,000 (value of the property). Division duty to be paid is therefore €3,000.
As with registration duties on the transfer, for consideration, of immovable property, the tax base is calculated according to the conventional value, which cannot be lower than the market value.
More information
See the Opens in new windowtax information sheet (only available in French and Dutch).
4. Registration duties on inter vivos gifts of movable or immovable property, provided that the donor's tax domicile is located in the Brussels-Capital Region
A gift is a contract whereby one person – the donor – transfers any part of their estate to another person – the beneficiary – free of charge, i.e. without receiving anything in return.
When a gift is made, gift tax may be charged.
The amount of this tax varies significantly depending on whether the gift is movable or immovable property.
When the gift involves immovable property, it is subject to progressive registration duty, which depends on the degree of kinship between the donor and the beneficiary, and is set as follows:
| Rate for direct relatives, spouses, legal cohabitants, and de facto cohabitants who have lived together for at least 1 year | Rate for all other people | ||||
| Gift bracket | Rate | Gift bracket | Rate | ||
| from | to (inclusive) | from | to (inclusive) | ||
| €0.01 | €150,000 | 3% | €0.01 | €150,000 | 10% |
| €150,000.01 | €250,000 | 9% | €150,000.01 | €250,000 | 20% |
| €250,000.01 | €450,000 | 18% | €250,000.01 | €450,000 | 30% |
| Beyond €450,000 | 27% | Beyond €450,000 | 40% | ||
Any gift of immovable property must be recorded in a notarial deed, which must be registered.
When the gift involves movable property, it is subject to a duty of:
- 3% when made between direct relatives, spouses, legal cohabitants, and de facto cohabitants who have lived together for at least 1 year.
- 7% when made to any other person.
When made by means of a notarial deed, the gift of movable property must be registered. As a result, it is taxed according to the above-mentioned rates.
When the gift of movable property is not recorded in a notarial deed and is not registered, no registration duty is due. However, should the donor die within 3 years following the date of the gift, the gift for which no registration duty was paid is added to the deceased's estate, and is taxed at a significantly higher inheritance tax rate for the beneficiary.
In both cases – gifts of immovable and movable property – the gift tax is calculated according to the market value of the gifted property, without deducting the value of any charges that the beneficiary must pay. In addition, this tax is applied to the gross value of the share received by each of the beneficiaries.
Example:
An uncle donates a work of art worth €140,000 to his two nephews, each receiving half, i.e. €70,000. The gift tax therefore amounts to 2 x €4,900.
More information
See the Opens in new windowtax information sheet (only available in French and Dutch).