Ruling Highlights
In a recent tax ruling (Decision Nr. 2025.0070, 18 March 2025), the Belgian Ruling Service reaffirmed that purely passive investments in Belgian real estate—whereby the day-to-day management is delegated to a third party—do not in themselves establish tax residency in Belgium. While the outcome is not really surprising from a residency perspective, the decision offers a valuable clarification on the ‘seat of wealth’ doctrine by distinguishing passive ownership from active wealth management.
The Belgian Tax Code defines a Tax Resident as ‘any private individual who has established either their residence or seat of wealth in Belgium’. It is further stipulated that whether your residence or seat of wealth is established in Belgium, is assessed based on the factual circumstances.
Genuine Relocation & Life Abroad
The case involved a Belgian national who, together with his legally cohabiting partner, relocated to a non-EU country. Both Belgian citizens formally deregistered from the Belgian population register and registered with the Belgian consular services of the country where they now live permanently in a property acquired by the taxpayer. This move is well-documented and reflects a genuine, permanent relocation. The taxpayer holds a 10-year investor visa in that non-EU country, is enrolled in Belgium’s Overseas Social Security system, and maintains private health insurance. While the country itself was not disclosed, the facts strongly suggest it is the UAE, given the 10-year investor visa and the taxpayer’s desire to remain affiliated with the Belgian Social Security System.
Tax residency in the UAE is conditional on physically staying there for more than 183 days per year, verified by official travel data. Their daily life in the UAE is evidenced by utility bills, regular spending, medical visits, and ongoing social ties. The couple receives parcels and correspondence at their new address, visits local service providers such as pharmacies and garages, and even acquired local driving licences. Multiple vehicles are registered in the taxpayer’s name in the UAE. They also plan to move into a second, newly acquired property there, which will become their primary residence.
Professionally, the taxpayer is active in the blockchain and Web3 sectors and claims that the main global players in these industries have established themselves in the UAE. He frequently attends networking and innovation events hosted there. He is the sole shareholder and director of a management and consultancy firm based in the UAE, which also serves as director of a Belgian crypto-related company. Separately, he owns 50% of another consultancy firm based in the UAE. His partner, who ended her career in Belgium, is now professionally active in the UAE as well, managing bookkeeping and administrative duties for her husband’s companies. The couple’s personal and professional lives are firmly anchored outside Belgium.
Although they return to Belgium occasionally—about three months per year in total—this is mostly for family visits or for the taxpayer’s role as permanent representative of his foreign company that sits on the board of a Belgian firm. The UAE remains their central base for all other travel and business activities.
Passive Real Estate Investment in Belgium
In the meantime, the taxpayer invested in Belgian real estate. He purchased land and had three residential units built in a Belgian municipality. These properties have been completed and will be rented out. The rental process, including all property management duties, is outsourced to a professional real estate agent in Belgium. The taxpayer himself is not involved in the day-to-day oversight of these properties. This constitutes a purely passive investment.
Joint Investment via Belgian Company
In a separate initiative, the taxpayer co-founded a Belgian company to facilitate a joint real estate investment with a third party. This company was established specifically to acquire and manage a small business unit and another property development project in Belgium. Both assets are leased to third parties. Each party holds 50% of the shares through their respective holding companies and are also co-directors. The structure was set up to formalise control rights and isolate financial risk. The taxpayer, via his holding company, acts as financier, while his partner in the venture is responsible for operational follow-up and daily management.
No Tax Residency or Seat of Wealth in Belgium
After reviewing all circumstances, the Ruling Service concluded that the taxpayer is not a Belgian tax resident and does not maintain a ‘seat of wealth’ in Belgium. The tax office emphasised that the taxpayer and his partner have genuinely and permanently relocated abroad. Their personal and professional ties, as well as their economic and social life, are now all clearly centred in the UAE.
The setup of a Belgian company and the completion of a property investment project here were not considered sufficient to requalify him as a Belgian resident. These developments were seen as passive and investment-driven, with no operational involvement from the taxpayer himself.
As a result, the taxpayer is therefore not subject to Belgian personal income tax as a resident.
The concept of a ‘seat of wealth’ refers to the place from which a taxpayer’s assets are managed. This is not necessarily where the assets are physically located, but rather where control over the assets is exercised. Key indicators include bank accounts, real estate holdings, investment activities, and even details such as insurance policies or vehicles registered and maintained in Belgium.
While increasingly outdated in the age of online banking, the Belgian Supreme Court has stated in the past that if tax authorities uncover domestic records related to the management of foreign investments—such as bank statements held in Belgium—this may indicate that the taxpayer is effectively managing their assets from within Belgium (Decision of 7 May 1996, Nr. C 96/5).
However, in this case, the taxpayer’s asset management activities are clearly based abroad. The only link to Belgium is a series of passive, outsourced investments. There is no sign of any active presence, management structure, or habitual residence that would point to a Belgian centre of interest.
Passive Links Do Not Create Tax Residency
This ruling sends a clear message: passive investments in Belgian property, when not accompanied by active management or habitual residence, are not sufficient to trigger Belgian tax residency. The taxpayer’s economic, personal, and professional life must be examined holistically, and only substantial ties with Belgium can justify taxing someone as a resident.
For internationally mobile individuals, this decision provides clarity and reassurance—as long as the relocation abroad is real and documented, passive financial ties with Belgium will not re-anchor them in the Belgian tax net.