13th month. Aren’t the taxes weirdly too high? We are talking at around 59%!

34 comments
  1. Bonuses are always taxes that high, technically also because all your other months are taxed too little. You should know that anyone who doesn’t have a 13th month, tends to owe more tax at end of year because of that.

  2. same for me, this fucking sucks, but we gotta clench our teeth and think of all the benefits. besides, some of it might come back on a tax return

  3. And not imagine being told you underpay your workers when the state takes more than half of the money that you pay them by the politicians that keep this system up.

  4. Progressive taxes. Start at 25 percent with 30 percent forfaitaire costs and a tax free sum. End at 50 percent.

    Pre tax also isn’t the actual taxation. It doesn’t matter. It’s not how taxes work.

    13th month and other wage gets taxed the same way in the end.

  5. But healthcare is really cheap in Belgium and all you have to do is hand over more than half of your salary to the government, for the duration of your life.

  6. I am happy to live in a country with decent public amenities. But I sometimes wonder how much the tax rate would actually be if the government functioned efficiently.

  7. I’m kinda surprised so many people complaining about the high taxes. Pretty sure employers wouldnt skip a beat to lower wages (if they could) if magically all taxes would go away, resulting in a net zero for us and huge gains for them.

  8. If you want to know what happens with your taxes, de Tijd made a very interesting visualisation.

    36 billion euro’s (2021) went to health care. It’s the second biggest expense from our government(s).

    Biggest expense is social security (pensions, unemployment,…)

    Both combined (social benefits) account for more than half of the expenses.

    https://multimedia.tijd.be/begroting/

  9. Tell me about it.

    8200 euro gross, 3280 euro netto 😭

    Almost 5000 euro taxes on my 13th month, probably another 4k taxes on my regular paycheck.

    Casual 9k taxes in one month, while its a luxury problem and i dont mind paying taxes to benefit everyone in our society, i dont get sick, i have been employed every single day since i graduated and i feel like my pension will still be shitty…

    Take care of your own pension while you’re young, is all i can advise everyone. Because the inefficient government will fuck you over when the time comes.

  10. Yes I also lose the majority of my 13th month, it sucks and it doesn’t feel right or fair.

    However, I like to think I just got 1300 instead of losing 1500. Makes me feel slightly better I suppose.

  11. The Belgian system works, it is policy from the politicians and our current social market that makes our taxes so high.

    We all know this for years, but the expenses go up for health care and social security.

    More aging people, population growth adds to financial burden, so in that perspective a higher tax is necessary… However the tax money we pay gets used inefficient and illogical.

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    But I’m not gonna complain too much, because we’re practically one of the only countries in the world with such tight and good healthcare system even if it’s under strain and pressure from outside forces or problems. I rather pay taxes, so I know that others can be helped and I’m also covered for any big health concerns or issues.

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    Because any other country in the world, you’ll still need to pay more out of pocket, USA being one of them where it basically means bankruptcy if you have cancer or a long term disease, even a car accident with significant problems following from it can give you bills into the tens of thousands… So by the time you die you have an immense debt to your kids or whoever is left behind.

  12. Same in Canada. Trudeau basically takes 50% on bonuses.

    Regular income is charged less. I am not surprised that Belgium has a similar approach. It’s probably the same in most EU countries and Canada/US.

  13. Belgium is one of the highest taxed countries in the world and offers many of the same benefits as the other OECD nations that tax their citizens at much lower rates.

    Im grateful to live in Belgium but universal healthcare, great education and a fair welfare system are not unique to Belgium.

    Every time I complain about the taxes to my Belgian in-laws and friends they always resort back to “but we have an amazing healthcare system and good education”. That’s it, they don’t want to acknowledge the fact that other countries offer all of this as well.

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