Two opposing movements run through Belgium's copyright regime in 2026. On one side, the door reopens for software developers, shut out for two years. On the other, the advantage narrows for almost everyone, as the flat-rate cost deduction disappears. For the director who pays part of their work as copyright income, the net calculation shifts.
Belgium's copyright regime (art. 17, §1, 5° of the Belgian Income Tax Code) treats part of a person's remuneration as movable income, taxed at a 15% withholding, within an indexed ceiling of €77,220 for income year 2026. Two pivots in 2026: computer programs re-enter the scope of the regime, and the flat-rate cost deduction is removed except for holders of an arts-work certificate.
The regime has carried a poor reputation since its 2023 reform: a narrowed scope, cumulative conditions, closely watched ceilings. The 2026 sequence does not simplify it, but it redraws its geography. Understanding where the line of the fiscally acceptable now runs is the first thing to do before adjusting a remuneration agreement.
What the regime allows — and what it really costs
The principle remains the one set out in article 17, §1, 5° of the Belgian Income Tax Code: when an author transfers or licenses the economic rights in a protected work, the remuneration received in return is treated as movable income rather than professional income. The difference is twofold. Movable income escapes social security contributions and bears a final 15% movable withholding tax instead of the progressive personal income tax scale, which climbs to 50%.
The benefit is not unlimited. For income year 2026, the indexed ceiling stands at €77,220. Above it, the excess tips into professional income and returns to ordinary taxation. That ceiling is assessed two ways: on the current year, but also over time — the average gross copyright income over the four preceding taxable periods may not exceed the amount either. The rule targets remuneration inflated on a one-off basis to absorb an income spike.
The return of the IT sector
This is the news awaited for two years. The 2023 reform had removed computer programs from the material scope of the regime for income years 2024 and 2025, on the ground that program code did not belong to the artistic logic the legislator had in mind. The Constitutional Court upheld that exclusion, closing off a challenge on principle.
As part of the personal income tax reform, the cursor moves back: from 1 January 2026, computer programs return to the material scope of the regime. A developer who transfers the rights in the software they design can therefore again treat part of their remuneration as copyright income — subject, of course, to meeting all the general conditions.
Bringing the IT sector back in does not mean returning to the generosity of the pre-2023 rules. Developers regain access to the regime, but in its tightened form: the ceiling, the 30/70 ratio, the transfer conditions, and above all the removal of the flat-rate cost deduction that applies to them too. The net benefit is real, but distinctly thinner than it once was.
The end of the flat-rate cost deduction
Until now, the taxable base of copyright income was not the gross amount but an amount reduced by a flat-rate cost deduction: 50% on the first bracket (up to €19,480) and 25% on the second (from €19,480 to €38,970). In practice, a 15% withholding applied to a base cut in half produced, on the first bracket, an effective rate close to 7.5%.
From 2026, that deduction is only available to holders of an arts-work certificate — the certificate issued by the Arts Work Commission. For everyone else, developers and directors included, the 15% withholding now applies to the gross amount. On the first bracket, the burden therefore rises from around 7.5% to 15%. The advantage over the progressive scale survives, but in many cases it is halved.
The cumulative conditions to keep in view
Three locks frame access to the regime, and they stack. The first is the €77,220 ceiling already mentioned, assessed on the year and on a four-year average. The second is the 30/70 ratio: the remuneration paid for the transfer of copyright may not exceed 30% of total remuneration, services included. That ratio, reached after a transitional period (50% for assessment year 2023, 40% for 2024), now applies in full. The third is the very nature of the operation: there must be a genuine transfer or licence of rights in a protected work, documented in an agreement.
An arrangement that breaches the ceiling, forces the ratio, or rests on a work whose copyright protection is doubtful exposes itself to reclassification as professional income — with the progressive scale, social contributions and, where relevant, tax increases applying. The line is documented when the agreement is signed, not when the audit takes place.
What the director should recompute
For a director of a management company, an IT consultant operating through a company, an architect or a lawyer who structures part of their remuneration as copyright income, the 2026 combination forces a review. The reopening to the IT sector creates a possibility where none remained. But removing the deduction shrinks the gain per euro, and the 30/70 ratio caps the base. The net calculation now depends finely on the profile: the nature of the work, the real share of creation in the activity, the level of total remuneration.
The right question is not "may I use copyright income?" but "for what share, with what documentation, and for what real net gain after 2026?". It is a trade-off to place alongside the other levers of distribution and remuneration, not in isolation.
A first confidential meeting places the copyright regime within a director's overall architecture — without overstating its reach, and without neglecting it where it remains relevant.