The Act of 18 December 2025 (M.B. 30 December 2025) is set to change the way we do things.
Previously, you were able to claim a tax deduction or were taxed on 80 per cent of the maintenance payments you paid or received.
From now on, the tax treatment of maintenance payments will be limited to 70 per cent for payments made in 2025, 60 per cent for payments made in 2026, falling to 50 per cent from 2027 onwards.
If you are taxed in Belgium and pay maintenance to a recipient resident outside the EEA or outside Switzerland, you will no longer be able to deduct it from the 2025–2026 tax year onwards.
Corresponding measure: if you receive maintenance payments from a person resident outside the EEA or outside Switzerland, you will no longer be taxed on these payments from 2025 onwards.
This measure also applies to a lump-sum maintenance payment if this option has been chosen by the former spouses rather than a maintenance payment.
This measure will, of course, have an impact on the setting of maintenance payments, both for the ex-spouse and for the children of separated spouses.
