Non-resident status in Belgium
 

From my research, an expat working in Belgium will be treated as a resident tax-wise and will be taxed on their world wide income unless they can prove a non-resident status. Does anyone know how difficult it is to obtain the non-resident status while working a full time permanent job in Belgium, while remaining as a foreign citizen?

Thanks.

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

It appears unlikely that any correct answers to your query will be publicised in this manner ;
you could p.m. me with a bit more info , perhaps we can have a chat about it , sometime ?
Cheers & Bonne Anee !

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

Hi Ray..

do you remember me?
How is it going?

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

Yes , I do ; and I have empathy for your English blues ; now , next , the pound will crash against the Euro , and many of your Brit-neighbours will find themselves in dire financ. straits ( serves most them : right ! Biig Spenders , on their multi-credit cards !);
Germany is quite a bit more civilised to live nowadays , methinks ;
( even though , foodwise or chic-wise : not ever a patch on Belgique ! )
We're fine here , also sailing into a reccession , not that the natives don't deserve it - and don't even start me on the immigrants , gypsies , roumanian beggars , albanian prossies , crime everywhere , fiulth , grime & total decline of EUrope , as we once knew it !
Time to pack up and move on !!!???

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

For us or for you?:o

I'm still glad I'm out of Belgium...nothing changed there..but I wished we could live in a different part of the uk..unfortunate here is were Nato is.
Don't know why..just 2 hours out of here our 350k we want to spent on a house would buy us something were nice and it would be much nicer all around.
There are so many nice areas like the lake district..I just love it there..see I still like the UK very much..just not here:unsure:

Yes..hopefully the house prices will come down now..but Gordi is fighting it:thumbdown: just don't think there is much he can do now...self inflicted is all I can say about it...:sneaky:

So..you thinking of leaving..were too?

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

Since I was a teenager , I always think of leaving !( and then : do , exxxxactly that ! )
Been there , done that , many T-shirts are long ago torn and forgotten :
Switzerland , South Africa , U.K. , Canada , Dubai , Slovenia , Surrey again ,
Hong Kong , BeNeLux ( really : not at all bad ! ) , where next ?
Spain , Cyprus , Croatia , friends are strongly hinting at Oz...who knows ?
For my money , I'd prefer Saarbruecken or Karlsruhe or Muenchen , anyday !

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

I find that .. the more country's you live in, the more difficult it is to find the place you want to live in...because every country has something nice you don't want to miss...saying that..I have not find anything I miss from Belgium:D

We could have gone to Heidelberg and I really would had liked it..but with our older daughter being almost 13 and doing really well in school here..it would have been difficult for her going to a German school..she is not speaking German and I was not keen on the international school over there..
Oh well...I just want a house now and settle down.
It is ridicules really..I'm 47 we have a income of 60.000 and we are still not able to buy a simple house..:(

Hope you find some were nice next and wish you all the best;)

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

Thanks !
Belgium has been very good to me/us - I'll be sad to leave here , although the wife is forever going on , about the weather ( mostly ! ) ;
for excellent medical services , reasonable CoL , fab food , easy travel in/out - by car/TGV/plains , ease of living in/around Brussels...one has to go far , to find anything comparable !
As an ex-resident of Hampstead and Surrey , I'd never again think of giving up on Belgium , to end up there again ...
But , each to their own , cheers !

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

Ah yes,,the weather...I must say, we have much nicer weather over here, then we had in Belgium...more sunshine during the winter. Looking back..it seems to me that there were much more Grey days and defiantly more rainy days..
Maybe it is much better if you live in Brussels..but Mons is just awful:huh:

Never mind, nice talking to you again :cool:..wish you all the best were ever you go;)

Sorry for hijacking the thread:o

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

We are thinking of moving to Belguim to, as we wold love to live in Ypres, is the tax as bad as people say ( we havent really started looking too seriously yet)..

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

We never had to pay taxes..but I have heard that is is pretty bad..we only paid Taxes buying a house and that was pretty steep..buying a 150.000 house did cost us 25.000 all icl.

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

not sure if this will help

http://www.investinwallonia.be/ofi-b...ate%202003.pdf

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

The income tax , on ordinary employment income , is punitive ;
some other taxes ( dividends , shares , rentals , wealth , investments etc ) : much less so !
Then you have here any number of foreigners , from the EU-lands and from elsewheres , who are not in ordinary employment ,
thus : they can benefit from allsorts of tax arrangements , special treatments and relaxations :
...truly weird'n'wonderful ; even if/when they are residents , temporary or permanent ...
( but , this is a complex and v. confidential subject , to be approached with supreme caution and correct exchange of info ...'nuff said ! ) .
Cheers !

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

Indeed, i moved over with work and a well known worldwide taxation specialist company are involved in sorting my taxation.

I have moved over as an ex-pat and benefit from some special status (i forgot what it is called now) and the company takes care of all tax returns.

I also filled a E101 so i carry on paying social security in the UK and am excempt from Belgium.

But yes, it is a minefield - best to get a professional to do it !

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

Your E101 cover.... are you self employed status and do not expct to be there for more than 12 months ?

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

the E101 has not been sent in as yet, it is here with me.

No i am not self employed, but expect to be in belgium for at least 5 years.

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

You might need to get your company to check its validity out then because I don`t think it will cover you for healthcare there.
DWP E101

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

i think this just refers to self employed - it was actually the tax office in the UK that suggested this should be done.

I would still be paying benefits and be covered on the european health insurance card (new E111 equivilient) - although for some things i will need to top up with private insurance.

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

You will find the European health insurance card only covers you for emergency treatment while on holiday and no further free medical help or repatriation to your resident country, otherwise everybody living abroad would use them.
Also you will find if you are out the UK for a certain amount of time then you loose your cover there as you are no longer a UK resident.
Please check it all out as it could be a nasty expence if anything serious happened.
Can`t you get your company to cover you privately ?

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

I'm sure JDR's right ... dont forget you will be subject to Belgian law and it matters not a jot what someone in the Uk says

An E111 card covers you for emergencies only. I am fully paid up with my DHS payments. On a recent trip back to the UK I tried to use my E111 and was told it was not valid as I was not a UK resident any more. I had to pay for a visit to the doctor.

Similarly, in Spain, I have no health cover under the state system because I am not working and not of retirement age. They looked at my E111 card and just shrugged :). I have to have private cover

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

I wonder what difference this makes with my wife working in Belgium ,, she is on a belgium contract and so pays into the belgian social security.

Anyway, as usual - the timing of these points is perfect - i have a meeting with the "specialist company" at 14.30 CET for other issues, so can raise it then with them face to face :)

I will let you know what they say, as this would benefit others also.

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

Usually if one of the family is working and paying into the system then the whole family are covered as dependants, so maybe that will solve it.
Get her to try and register you into the clinic as her dependant.
Your UK payments will cover your pension, if there is still one when you retire. ???

Thanks for any feedback, it will help as it is a nightmare trying to find the ins and outs of the EU. ;.))

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

ok .... here is what they said

Yes complete an E101 - this will then give me a E106 which i can claim back medical expenses against with a Belgium health insurance company.

With my wife paying social here we are all covered (you were right) - she is to get a health card which is used for appointments.

My social payments cover my dependants in the UK also and keep my pension going.

Finally, i have the answers to questions i asked about tax and social, it is a big relief.

I am now a tax expert ... so ask away :rofl:

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

I bet you feel a bit better now, thanks for the feed back, it may be help to someone in a similar position later.
You are right though it is a minefield, they seem to make it so hard to sort out between the countries.
Good luck in your new life.

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

Dont know how old you are, but did you know that the government were talking about bringing the maximum years to qualify for a full state pension down to 30 years?

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

I take it you're Belgian then?

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

NO ,
no good-enough reason to become one ( yet ) !
Also : not really neccessary , what with half Paris and two-thirds of former Warsaw pact now all slumming it here...

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

Just a hypocrit then.

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

I'd rather call it : practical ;
( and a better speller , than you ! )
hehehe...

Re: Non-resident status in Belgium
 

I unsubscribe from this , herewith ;
if there's anyone needy enough , or serious enough , or literate enough ,
to wish to continue with anything relevant :
please , p.m. me anytime ,
and my e-address is easily available , too ;
Cheers ,
R.