cuelist

I'm in discussions with a Belgium based company about a managment job. W have not touched on the subject of salary yet but I'd like to be well prepared for when this come up.

The same company is advertising for a very similar position at their UK subsidary, the ad says salary range £45k - £55k.

Should I expect this to translate directly into Euros for the job in Belgium, in that case EUR 66k - 80k?

Taxes are much higher in Belgium (up to 50%) but the cost of living lower, though of course depending where you live.

Any advice or comments would be most welcome!


M.

Belgium

Salaries here are negotiated on a monthly not an annual basis. You then receive approx 13.95 months per year. You are right that your normal monthly salary will reduce to about 50% however when you receive the 13th month and the holiday pay (95%) of a month they are regarded as bonus payments and the tax will rise to about 60% (am basing these figures on what I pay).

Many companies here provide a car and pay for petrol - that is very tax efficient. Also you may receive maaltijd cheques - like luncheon vouchers - which you can use in restaurants and also in supermarkets.

If you are on a Belgian contract that's about it. If you can get an expat contract you can reduce your tax and also get additional benefits.

For myself, my job would pay in the UK between £40k and £60k depending on location. Here I get 4K€ per month and take home about 2K€. The more you earn here the more you pay, if you can get a car then go for it, even if the cash component of the package is lower.

The cost of living is a little lower but it depends on where you are coming from and which part of Belgium you are going to. Remember that VAT here is up to 21% and you even pay that sort of rate on a house!.

Any other info you need just ask.

cuelist

Thanks!!

But... that sounds a bit low to me. I'm not saying my calculations are 100% correct (tax laws are a jungle!) but these are the figures I came up with:

UK: Gross salary £50k / year : net salary £37k => €54k

Belgium: Gross salary €90k / year : net salary €55k


M.

Belgium

Not sure what you think is low - the gross or the net? You would need to be a very senior manager here to earn 90k€! And this country does not reward hard work or people who get promoted - the amount of tax paid rises very quickly.
As I said 4k gross gives you 2k net - whereas 2.5k gross gives you 1.6k net! Of course if you know the system (or the right people) there are ways of getting around these things, but a lot of the loopholes are being closed.

I used to be self employed and believe me that situation is even worse unless you are very highly paid - especially the social benefits, you have to pay a high proportion of your income in Social Security but only get minimal cover - basically hospital costs, you still have to pay for the doctor and full price for prescriptions and you get a VERY low pension even if you work for 40 years or more.

As an employee of course you get full coverage, though still have to pay some small amounts for medical treatment and you get a pension, unemployment etc.

I understand where you are coming from though, when I first interviewed here for a permanent job I was asked how much I wanted and I just converted a UK salary into Francs (as we used then) and got laughed out of the office!.

cuelist

OK - let's look at it this way; at your €2k take-home pay per month are you able to sustain the same standard of living as if you had been making £50k per year (gross) in the UK.

Maybe that's an impossible question?


M.

cuelist

Well this the info I got off the web:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Report Summary
The Development Manager working in Belgium - All Cities now earns an average salary of 74,459. Half of those in this position would earn between 60,081 and 111,182 (the 17th and 67th percentiles). These numbers are derived from real, area specific, survey data.

When benefits and bonuses are added to this salary, the average total compensation for this position would be 89,398. The report below also explains how the cost-of-living in this location affects the actual value of this salary.

All currency in Euro
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
source: www.salaryexpert.com


M.

MarcoGoalo

I wouldnt say the cost of living is lower than UK,
Groceries/general shopping more expensive.
Beer/Travel cheaper
Insurance more expensive
Taxes higher
You have to work a full year before getting paid holidays.

so, it depends how much you drink as to wether its cheaper or not, but its certainly a better quality of life.

Belgium

Insurance and tax are killers but I wouldn't say that groceries are more expensive than the UK - was there last week and the price of items in the supermarket were really high I thought - eating out here is cheaper than in the UK and standards generally high. I find the cost of clothes higher than in the UK - talking about high street brands.

That thing about working a year before getting holidays is so stupid too, don't understand why they do it.

In the end it all depends on where you live and how you live.

Belgium

Personally find that hard to believe. Those surveys are based on the number of people replying and there is no guarantee that they are giving real figures.

Perhaps you should ask on www.xpats.com more people will be able to give you an idea on there.

ewagstaff

Hi

I was wondering as you live and work in belgium if you could give me any links or information on nursing in belgium as I have found nothing of any help on the internet.

eurotramp

We live in Belgium and people keep telling me that Belgium is much cheaper then the UK in shopping and eating out....total rubbish..we just had a 2 weeks break in Cornwall and London. First shopping here is total rubbish against the UK and eating out...don't start me.
I really can not understand that anybody wants to come and live here...

Ray51

Well , we live here too : 7 years already !
Except for the few overlong , gloomy winters - it has been nice ; we are in Brussels , which has tens of thousands of expats ; I disagree that shopping here is rubbish - maybe you think the same of Paris and Barcelona , too?
( Bru is very much in that Class ! ) ; and eating out and grocery shopping are both cheaper and superior than U.K.
One comes to live here , beacuse : One Can !

eurotramp

Ok...but we dont live in Brussels...we do live in the Walloon....in Mons.
I tell you..it is shit........

Ray51

Ah , O.K. then :
You have my empathy !
When next you are up in Bru , let's meet ?
Or , send a PM , well in advance ?

eurotramp

Unfortunate..(or not) we are moving within the next 4 weeks to northwood..very near to London....hubby is gone work again for NATO.
Shame..