You’ve got mail
If you live in another country, but you earned income from a Belgian source in 2022 (e.g. employee salary, statutory pension, rental income, etc.), the Belgian tax authorities may (spontaneously) send you a Non-Resident (NR) Tax Form in the next weeks, depending on where you live.
The NR form is different from the standard Resident (R) form, not only because it is green instead of red, but only applies to private individuals who are tax resident in another country but receive income taxable in Belgium. NR taxpayers all have in common that the Belgian authorities expects them to pay income tax in Belgium on whatever income they generated here.
Filing requirement
The deadline to submit the NR tax return this year is on 24 November 2023, irrespective whether you file on paper or online (yourself or through a tax or accounting firm).
The fact that you have received a tax form in the mail does not necessarily mean that you will actually have to pay Belgian income tax. This depends on the type of income you received, your personal tax situation and the country where you live. For a more detailed analysis of the different types of Belgian sourced income, we can refer to this article on our website.
In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in NR forms sent out by the Belgian authorities to taxpayers living abroad. Although many did not receive anything for years, they were suddenly very surprised to find a filing form in the mailbox.
What’s next
On their website, the Belgian authorities recommend taxpayers abroad in any case to file their NR form on time, if they received one. If you believe that you are not taxable in Belgium, the authorities suggest to file and include a cover letter in which you further explain the reason why you think you are tax exempt.
If you have received a NR form in the mail for income year 2022, but have no clue what to do with it, we can only recommend seeking advice from a tax professional. We can check together if you indeed have a filing requirement. The general rule is that you are not supposed to file a NR tax return if you did not have any earnings from a Belgian source. In some cases, you may even be entitled to a tax refund.