Belgium company registration

DOING BUSINESS IN BELGIUM IN 2023

Since 2003, Healy Consultants Group PLC has assisted our Clients with starting their company in Belgium. Our services include i) Belgium business registration ii) government license registration iii) Belgium business bank account opening iv) employee recruitment strategies v) visa strategies and vi) office rental solutions.

Compare different Belgium entities	LLC	Starter LLC	Joint-stock company	Representative office	Branch office
Also known as	Societe a responsabilite limitee	Starter SPRL	Societe anonyme	Representative office	Succursale
Best use of company?	All products and services	Start ups	To secure public funding	Marketing & research	Specific projects
How soon can you invoice Clients/sign sales contracts?	2 weeks	2 weeks	3 weeks	Cannot trade	3 weeks
How soon can you hire staff?	2 weeks	2 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks
How soon can you sign a lease agreement?	Immediately	Immediately	Immediately	Immediately	Immediately
How long to supply corporate bank account numbers?	6 weeks	6 weeks	6 weeks	6 weeks	6 weeks
How long to supply company registration/tax numbers?	2 weeks	2 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks
Corporate tax rate on annual net profits?	25%	25%	25%	0%	25%
Limited liability entity?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Resident director/partner/manager/legal representative required?	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
minimum paid up share capital?	€18550	€1	€61500	None	None
Can bid for Government contracts?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Corporate bank account location?	Fortis	Fortis	Dexia	ING Group	Keytrade Bank
Can secure trade finance?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
VAT payable on sales to local customers?	21%	21%	21%	0%	21%
Average total business set up engagement costs?	€17,780	€17,780	€20,550	US$16,050	US$16,050
Average total engagement period?	13 weeks	13 weeks	14 weeks	14 weeks	14 weeks

See full table

Accounting and tax considerations	LLC	Starter LLC	Joint-stock company	Representative office	Branch office
Statutory corporate tax payable?	25%	25%	25%	0%	25%
Legally tax exempt if properly structured?	No	No	No	Yes	No
Must file an annual tax return?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Must file annual financial statements?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Access to double taxation treaties?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Withholding tax on payments to foreign shareholders?	30%	30%	30%	None	30%
Company Registration	LLC	Starter LLC	Joint-stock company	Representative office	Branch office
Resident director/partner/manager/legal representative required?	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Minimum number of shareholders/partners?	1	1	2	Parent company	Parent company
Maximum shareholding for foreigners?	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Minimum statutory paid up share capital?	€18,550	€1	€61,500	None	None
Shelf companies available?	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Time to incorporate a new entity?	2 weeks	2 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks
Can easily convert to a PLC?	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Public register of shareholders and directors?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Can have preference shareholders?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Business Considerations	LLC	Starter LLC	Joint-stock company	Representative office	Branch office
Good entity for trademark registration?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Can secure an import and export license?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes

Sponsorship by a local citizen required?	No
Our Client needs to travel to Belgium for business set up?	No
Temporary physical office solutions available?	Yes
You need a local resident as bank signatory?	No
Can be wholly foreign owned?	Yes
The entity will likely be regulated by?	Belgium Registrar of Companies
Government grants available?	Yes
Government approval required for foreign owners?	No
Security deposit to be kept with Government?	No
Minimum number of directors/managers?	1
Monthly VAT reporting to the Government?	Yes
Must appoint an auditor?	No
Group HQ tax incentives?	No
Must sign an office lease agreement during incorporation?	No
shareholders & directors documents to be attested\translated?	Yes
Each foreign director needs a personal income tax number?	No
Foreign director needs a residence visa?	No
Maximum number of staff allowed?	No maximum number for any entity
Expatriate to local staff ratio?	None
Can secure residence visa for business owner?	Yes
Other useful information
What will be included in my customer sales invoice?	Click link
This country has signed free trade agreements?	Yes
This country is a member of WIPO/TRIPS?	Yes
This country is a member of the ICSID?	Yes
Average custom duties suffered?	2.7%
Government foreign investment approval required?	No
Average monthly office rental? (€ per sq m)	€23
Minimum statutory monthly salary?	€1,531.93
Average monthly € salary for local skilled employees?	€3,000
€ deposit interest rate? (1 year average)	1.20%
Overseas remittance currency controls?	None
Banking considerations
Multi-currency bank accounts available?	Yes
Corporate visa debit cards available?	Yes
Quality of e-banking platform?	Good
Crowd funding available in this country?	Yes

Belgium business setup summary

Press the link headings below to read detailed, relevant, up to date information.

Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages of Belgium company registration
1. It is easy to register a new company in Belgium, as this can be done with only i) one shareholder, investing a minimum of €18,550 in the company’s capital and ii) one director. Both can be foreigners and do not need to be ordinarily residing in Belgium;
2. Belgium is a great place to start a trading company because:
  - Our Clients’ sales will benefit from the size of the local market: Belgium has indeed a population of 11 million with a GDP per capita of €37,000 as of 2015. The total market size is €412 billion;
  - Due the country’s EU membership, a Belgium resident company enjoys advantages including i) lack of trade restrictions ii) free movement of capital and labor iii) reduction or exemption from withholding taxes on foreign payments and iv) access to an integrated European market of 500M people;
  - Companies registered in Belgium will also benefit from the country’s excellent transportation infrastructure, ranked as the 21^st best in the world according to the World Economic Forum. Ports are notably ranked as the 3^rd best in the European Union, after the Netherlands and Finland;
  - While Belgium has no free trade zones, the country does have bonded warehouses located near the main port of Antwerp and the national airport north of Brussels. In addition, with the authorization of the customs authorities, a firm may create a private bonded warehouse and thereby delay and even avoid payment of customs duties;
  - Belgium also shares borders with main European markets including i) Germany ii) Netherlands iii) the United Kingdom and iv) France;
  - For all the reasons listed above, the World Bank currently ranks Belgium as the best place in the world for a company to trade across borders.
3. Our Clients forming a holding company in Belgium will benefit from the following advantages:
  - Belgium holding companies benefit from a reduced corporate tax rate of 4% on dividends received by both global and local subsidiaries, provided that the holding company has owned at least 10% of their shares during the preceding year;
  - Thanks to EU Parent/Subsidiary Directive, dividends paid to a Belgian holding company by European Union (EU) subsidiaries are also exempt from dividend withholding tax;
  - Belgium has signed double taxation avoidance agreements with over 85 countries, including i) Australia ii) China iii) Germany iv) Hong Kong v) Singapore vi) the United States and vii) the United Kingdom.
4. It is easy to open global corporate bank accounts to support Belgium company formation. Healy Consultants works with internationally recognized banks such as i) HSBC ii) Standard Chartered and iii) Citibank to provide corporate bank account services in Belgium;
5. Belgium has been positively ranked in the 20^th position (out of 137 countries) in the Global Competitiveness Index 2017-2018 edition. This is largely due to the country’s i) excellent levels of health and primary education, ii) excellence in business sophistication and iii) world-class infrastructural facilities.
Disadvantages of Belgium company registration
1. Our Clients registering a company in Belgium will have to pay a significant amount of tax, because:
  - The standard corporate tax rate of 25% is one of Europe’s highest. The employees and employers social security contributions add up to 38% of the employees’ gross salaries;
  - All companies are required to register for value added tax, which standard rate is 21%;
  - Businesses are also required to pay several other taxes uncommon in other countries, resulting in an average effective tax rates of 58% of their annual earnings according to the World Bank.
2. According to the location of the company, the official language will either be i) French ii) Flemish or iii) German. Consequently, all corporate documents will have to be translated in at least one of these languages, as well as contracts signed with local employees and customers;
3. While the local workforce is efficient and well-trained, labor costs are recorded by Eurostat at €40 per hour, the 3^rd highest level in Europe. Belgium has also the second highest minimum salary in Europe, fixed at €1,500 per month, just after Luxembourg;
4. Belgium is the second-most expensive region in the EU region in terms of price of electricity. Locally registered and active companies are likely to face high electricity prices majorly due to network costs, taxes, surcharges and certificate schemes.
Best uses for Belgium company
A few best uses for our international Clients’ Belgium company is for the following purposes:
1. As a base to reach the European market:
  - According to 2016 KOF Index of Globalisation, Belgium was ranked 3^rd in the world, indicating its limited trade restrictions and openness to foreign trade;
  - Belgium is also among the world’s top 20 exporters with its main export destinations to Germany, France, Netherlands and the UK;
  - A staggering 80% of Europe’s purchasing power lies within a radius of 800km from Brussels; Consequently our Clients can tap into this pool of 500 million consumers.
2. A distribution channel:
  - Belgium’s dense interconnected transport network offers our Clients’ business efficient distribution solutions;
  - Additionally, Belgium is supported by world-class telecommunication and Internet infrastructures;
  - A Belgium company will be ideal for our Clients who are looking to establish a logistics company or looking to outsource their distribution channels.
3. Innovation and IP centres:
  - The Belgian government strongly welcomes businesses with R&D, investment in capital goods and innovation activities;
  - With R&D tax credits and IP regime available, companies can expect to deduct up to 85% of net income derived from qualifying assets.

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Company purpose?
Will the LLC be a trading company or a holding company?
Will the entity be a subsidiary of a foreign company?
The LLC will be tax resident? Having local customers and local staff and local suppliers?
The entity will receive investment income or professional services fees or sales from trading with multi-national customers?
Is double taxation treaty access important?
Do you need our help to legally minimize your international tax obligations?
Do you need our help to increase e-commerce sales (click link)?
Company structure?
Will the shareholders be individuals or corporate?

In what country do you require a corporate bank account? Refer to this web page (click link) for ideas

Do you need multi-currency corporate visa debit cards?

Do you need a resident director?

Nationality of shareholders and directors?
Expected annual sales and net profits?
Does the entity need a special regulatory license or import or export license?
Additional comments?
Tell us about your existing business?
Name of your existing company?
Your business web site address?
What products and services does your company supply?
How many years are you operating this business?
Is your Firm regulated by a Government agency?
In what country are the majority of your customers?

In what country are the majority of your suppliers?
Tell us about you?
Your name?
Your email address?
What country are you based in?

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