Invest in a new Flemish aid area and benefit from a reduction in wage costs

The Minister of Finance recently announced that four new Flemish aid areas will come into force on 1 November 2024. These areas will be located in Limburg, the Campine region, the Antwerp-Brussels axis and West Flanders. A Royal Decree has since established the new aid areas. Companies that make investments within these areas that involve the creation of new jobs will benefit from tax aid. Find out more about this measure. 

What does the tax aid entail?

If your company invests in an establishment located in an aid area, you will receive a reduction of tax burdens provided that the investment results in new jobs. In this case, 25% of the withholding tax calculated on the wages of employees employed in the new jobs does not need to be paid to the Treasury. 

Example:

A company invests in an establishment located in an aid area. This investment results in the creation of 2 new jobs. 25% of the withholding tax calculated on the wages of the employees filling these new jobs does not need to be paid to the Treasury.

The partial exemption from advance payment of withholding tax is granted for a period of two years from the moment the new job is filled. 

To benefit from this exemption, the new jobs must be maintained for at least three years (for SMEs) or five years (for large enterprises). 

Aid areas in the Flemish Region

Existing aid areas

Flanders currently has three aid areas, located around Genk, Turnhout and Zaventem-Vilvoorde.

The aid areas around Genk and Turnhout will end on 31 October 2024, whereas the aid area around Zaventem-Vilvoorde remained into effect up to and including 31 May 2028. As a result of the introduction of the new aid areas, the aid area around Zaventem-Vilvoorde will prematurely end on 31 October 2024.

New aid areas from 1 November 2024

The new areas will be located in:

• Limburg (Genk area), 
• the Campine region (Turnhout area), 
• the Antwerp-Brussels axis (Machelen area),
• West Flanders (Wielsbeke area).

These areas will have a duration of six years (up to and including 31 October 2030).

The aid areas have now been officially established by Royal Decree.

To find out if your company is located in one of the new aid areas, you can consult the web application Geopunt | Digitaal Vlaanderen. To delineate the areas more accurately, the cadastral parcel numbers falling within an aid area can be consulted in the Belgian Official Gazette. For the precise delineation of these parcels, reference is made to the Large Scale Reference File (‘Grootschalig Referentiebestand’) managed by the Flemish Region.

SMEs are entitled to aid throughout the entire aid areas. Large enterprises, on the other hand, are only eligible for aid if their investments are made in specific municipalities included on the 'Regional Aid Map 2022-2027' (Regionale Steunkaart 2022-2027). These areas are delineated in red on the web application. 

Aid areas in the Walloon Region

The Walloon Region had previously established aid areas around Seraing, Sambreville, Charleroi and Frameries. The application period for these aid areas will end on 30 April 2025. 

What does this mean for your company?

Is your company planning investments? If so, be sure to check whether it qualifies for tax aid for investments in aid areas. 

Our legal consultants are ready to assist you in this regard. You can contact them via legal@partena.be.

Sources: Press release by Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem - '4 new dislocated areas to support areas affected by restructuring' (‘4 nieuwe ontwrichte zones om steun te bieden aan gebieden getroffen door herstructureringen’), 26 September 2024;Royal Decree of 16 September 2024 to delineate aid areas in the Flemish Region around Genk, Turnhout, Machelen and Wielsbeke, Belgian Official Gazette of 3 October 2024.