Exemption of withholding tax for young workers (2020)

The wages of certain young workers are exempted from withholding tax in the fourth quarter of 2020.

For entitlement to this exemption, three conditions must be met:

1. It must be a young worker who meets the provisions referred to in article 36, § 1, first paragraph, 1° to 3° of the Royal Decree of 25 November 1991 regulating unemployment, meaning

• who is no longer subject to the compulsory schooling;
• who has completed particular studies, more specifically full-time upper secondary general education or lower secondary technical, artistic or business education or sandwich courses, or who has received a certificate for part-time secondary education;
• who has ceased all the activities required by the programme of studies, apprenticeship or training and by any full-time education programme.

2. The young worker must be hired with an employment contract beginning in October, November or December 2020. When the worker is hired in September, this measure does not apply.
3. The monthly taxable wages cannot exceed € 3,400.

The exemption applies from the month in which the worker is hired (October, November or December) until the end of the calendar year 2020. As from 1 January 2021, withholding tax will have to be deducted from the wages.

Source: Royal Decree of 11 December 2019 amending the Royal Decree for the implementation of the 'Code des impôts sur les revenus 1992' with regard to the section of the withholding tax, Belgian Gazette, 20 December 2019.