Income tax - How to change your withholding tax rate?

Verified 01 September 2025 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Your withholding tax rate no longer corresponds to your situation? You can ask to lower it or increase it. You can also choose a lower rate than your Civil partnership or partner, or refuse to pass on your personalized rate to your employer. We tell you what you need to know.

You can request a change to your withholding tax rate depending on your situation:

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You want to lower your rate

Your withholding tax rate is recalculated each year based on your tax return.

The new rate applies from September following your return.

However, if your situation has changed, you can request a rate change.

If your income has gone downHowever, you can ask tax authorities to reduce your withholding tax rate to avoid paying too much income tax.

You can request the change in case of deviation of more than 5% between the following:

  • Sampling at the rate modulated downwards
  • Direct debit at your current rate.

Example :

The amount of your annual levy is €2,000.

Due to the decline in your income, you estimate your annual levy to be €1,850.

The difference is 7.5% .

You can therefore request a reduction in your withholding tax rate.

You can request the change directly in your Personal space online:

Taxes: access to your space Private

You must specify your taxable net income and expenses, as you estimate them for the current year.

To calculate your net tax income from your gross income, you can use the tax calculator:

Simulator for calculating net tax income from gross income

The new rate shall apply no later than 3e month after your request.

Warning  

The reduced rate will apply until 31 December. You will need to make a new change request at the end of the year if your income remains reduced after 1er January.

If you want to get personalized information, you can contact the tax information service:

Who shall I contact

  • Tax Information Service

    By phone:

    0809 401 401

    Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 7 pm, excluding public holidays.

    Free service + price call

You want to increase your rate

Your withholding tax rate is recalculated each year based on your tax return.

The new rate applies from September following your return.

However, if your situation has changed, you can request a rate change.

If your income has increased, you can ask the tax authorities to increase your withholding tax rate to avoid having to pay too high a top-up tax at the end of the year.

You can request the change directly in your Personal space online:

Taxes: access to your space Private

You must specify your taxable net income and expenses, as you estimate them for the current year.

To calculate your net tax income from your gross income, you can use the tax calculator:

Simulator for calculating net tax income from gross income

The new rate shall apply no later than 3e month after your request.

Warning  

The higher rate will apply until 31 December. You will need to reapply for a change at the end of the year if your income remains higher after 1er January.

If you want to get personalized information, you can contact the tax information service:

Who shall I contact

  • Tax Information Service

    By phone:

    0809 401 401

    Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 7 pm, excluding public holidays.

    Free service + price call

You are married or past and you want to opt for the rate of your tax household

If you are married or past and imposed in common, you automatically get a individualized rate withholding tax.

FYI  

If you specifically requested it in your 2025 income tax return for 2024, you continue to be deducted at the rate calculated based on all the income of your tax household.

Your individualized rate applies exclusively to income you have personally.

The common income of your tax home are subject to a levy rate calculated for all household income.

The following (net taxable) income is considered to be personal income :

  • Wages
  • Pensions and life annuities
  • NCB: titleContent
  • BIC: titleContent
  • BA: titleContent
  • Remuneration allocated to the managers and partners of certain businesses.

Other income subject to withholding tax (land income for example) are considered to be common income.

Your individualized rate is calculated based on your situation in the last year:

  • Spouse or partner with the lowest incomes
  • Spouse or partner with the highest incomes.

Please note

Income not subject to withholding tax (income from investments subject to the single flat-rate levy, for example) are excluded from the calculation for determining which of the spouses or partners has the lowest incomes.

If you benefit from an individualized rate, you can opt for the rate calculated on the basis of total income from your tax home.

You can request change directly in your online private space:

Taxes: access to your space Private

The new rate shall apply no later than 3e month after your request.

You don't want your employer to know your personalized rate

If you do not wish to pass on your personalized rate to your employer, your employer will apply a neutral rate (also called default rate).

This rate is set based on your monthly withholding base, which is the amount of your salary.

The rate is applied on the basis of annual scale. It ranges from 0% to 43%.

Warning  

In most cases, the neutral rate will be higher than your custom rate.

If the neutral rate is lower than your personalized rate, you will have to pay the difference between the direct debit made and the one that would have been made with the personalized rate every month.

You can request the change directly in your Personal space online.

Taxes: access to your space Private

The new rate shall apply no later than 3e month after your request.

If you want to get personalized information, you can contact this service:

Who shall I contact

  • Tax Information Service

    By phone:

    0809 401 401

    Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 7 pm, excluding public holidays.

    Free service + price call

Who can help me?

Find who can answer your questions in your region

  • For general information

    Tax Information Service

    By phone:

    0809 401 401

    Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 7 pm, excluding public holidays.

    Free service + price call

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    Tax department (treasury, tax department...)