New capital gains tax—impact on share-based remuneration

The law introducing a new taxation regime for capital gains on financial assets was formally adopted by the Belgian parliament on 3 April 2026. For further details, see our Tax Alert of 3 April 2026 and Deloitte Belgium’s Tax Reforms Hub. This alert highlights the key implications of the new regime for employers offering share-based remuneration.

Considerations for share-based remuneration

The new legislation affects employee share-based remuneration plans from different dimensions. The key implications for employers offering share-based remuneration based on the preliminary draft law were discussed in our previous Tax Alert of 6 August 2025 and these remain valid under the final legislation.

Key takeaways for employers may be summarised as follows:

• Where employers offer different types of long-term incentives (e.g., restricted stock units, performance share units, stock options) with shares acquired by beneficiaries before or after 2026, the calculation of the taxable base, and more specifically the acquisition value, may be different. A specific computation tool may assist in the calculation process.

• Any capital gains realised on the sale of bank warrants may be subject to the new capital gains tax and employers should inform employees accordingly to avoid any unexpected outcomes.

• As the withholding tax only applies as from 1 June 2026, employees are required to report in their personal income tax return any capital gains realised during the period 1 January through 31 May 2026. As from 1 June 2026, a withholding tax may apply, but an opt-out may still be recommended to benefit from the first annual tranche of EUR 10,000 (to be indexed annually) per taxpayer or the deduction of capital losses. Again, employees should be informed of the position.

• For unquoted shares, it is important to determine the reference value on 31 December 2025 in accordance with the new capital gains tax rules. This is possible until 31 December 2027.

• Employees should be notified in advance that if they leave Belgium, the capital gains tax may still apply during the two years after departure (the so-called “exit tax”).

• For employers with tax equalised expatriates in Belgium, it is important to determine whether the capital gains tax will be in scope of a tax equalisation policy.

Next steps

Employers should consider providing guidance to employees on the implications of the new regime via one or more of the following methods: written communication, practical guidance, frequently asked questions, information sessions, or a simulation tool. The appropriate approach will depend on the complexity of the share-based plans (including the numbers of plans and beneficiaries) and any tools or platforms available to assist with the calculations.

Communication is key and it is important that employers ensure their employees are able to access the right information to calculate the taxable base and remit the correct capital gains tax.