On 9 July, the law reforming personal income tax — the draft of which had been announced in late 2025 — was approved. The government thereby delivers on its policy statements, including the following two measures, which therefore apply as from income year 2026 (next year’s tax returns).
As from income year 2026, the minimum remuneration that must be paid to a company director for an SME to qualify for the reduced corporate income tax rate rises from €45,000 to €50,000, and will now be indexed annually.
Moreover, it will no longer be possible for an SME to remunerate its director solely in benefits in kind (BIK) without losing the right to the reduced corporate tax rate. The legislature is introducing a cap on remuneration in BIK of 20% of the director’s pay package.
The BIK targeted here are those valued on a lump-sum basis (those determined in the ITC and the Royal Decree implementing the ITC, as well as BIK linked to stock options), and not those valued at their actual value. Excluded from the pro-rata calculation, therefore, are the BIK relating to the director’s social security contributions borne by the company and added to his remuneration.
The law officially brings computer programs back within the scope of copyright. More specifically, copyright income can now benefit from the specific personal income tax regime where it arises under Title 5 (“copyright and neighbouring rights”) and now also under Title 6 (“computer programs”) of Book XI of the Code of Economic Law.
This reinstatement was well received, but comes with caveats: first, it is expressly computer programs that are covered, and not the entire IT sector.
Second — and above all — in another law (the Programme Act of 30 May 2026), the legislature curtailed the tax impact of the copyright regime by abolishing the lump-sum deductible expense allowance where authors do not hold an arts work certificate (“attestation du travail des arts”). The impact can be significant: the allowance was 50% on income up to €20,590 for 2026 (i.e. an effective tax rate of 7.5% instead of 15%), then 25% up to €41,180.
If you exercise a profession that justifies putting copyright arrangements in place and your works have an artistic dimension, it is important to analyse the situation and, where appropriate, apply for this arts work certificate in order to preserve the benefit of the lump-sum expense allowance.