Belgium

#27 overall · Score 63.5 / 100 · down one place from 2025

Overall

#27

63.5 / 100

down one place from 2025

Corporate

#16

67.4 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Individual

#15

67.3 / 100

down two places from 2025

Consumption

#25

52.3 / 100

up one place from 2025

Property

#28

44.2 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Cross-border

#21

67.7 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Strengths

  • Belgium has a broad tax treaty network, with 93 countries, and a territorial tax system as it fully exempts foreign-sourced dividends and capital gains without any country limitations.
  • Capital gains from the sale of financial assets with insignificant ownership share exceeding EUR 10,000 are taxed at a relatively low rate of 10 percent.
  • Business investments in machinery, buildings, and intangibles all receive better-than-average treatment for corporate write-offs.

Weaknesses

  • Belgium levies some of the highest withholding tax rates among OECD countries with 30 percent on dividends, royalties, and interest payments.
  • Belgium levies an estate tax, a financial transaction tax, and an annual tax on securities accounts.
  • The Belgian tax wedge on labor is the highest among OECD countries, with the average wage single worker facing a tax burden of 53 percent.

Component Scores

Belgium category scores out of 100Corporate Taxes: score 67.4, rank 16. Individual Taxes: score 67.3, rank 15. Consumption Taxes: score 52.3, rank 25. Property Taxes: score 44.2, rank 28. Cross-Border Tax Rules: score 67.7, rank 21255075100Corporate Taxes: 67.4 (rank 16)Individual Taxes: 67.3 (rank 15)Consumption Taxes: 52.3 (rank 25)Property Taxes: 44.2 (rank 28)Cross-Border Tax Rules: 67.7 (rank 21)CorporateIndividualConsumptionPropertyCross-border
Category Rank Score vs 2025
Corporate Taxes #16 67.4 unchanged from 2025
Individual Taxes #15 67.3 down two places from 2025
Consumption Taxes #25 52.3 up one place from 2025
Property Taxes #28 44.2 unchanged from 2025
Cross-Border Tax Rules #21 67.7 unchanged from 2025

Ranking Changes, 2014–2026

Belgium's best overall rank was 18th and its worst was 27th. It ranks 27th in 2026.

Overall rank by year for BelgiumBelgium: 2014 rank 18, 2015 rank 19, 2016 rank 22, 2017 rank 22, 2018 rank 21, 2019 rank 25, 2020 rank 22, 2021 rank 22, 2022 rank 21, 2023 rank 22, 2024 rank 25, 2025 rank 26, 2026 rank 272014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026Belgium 2014: rank 18Belgium 2015: rank 19Belgium 2016: rank 22Belgium 2017: rank 22Belgium 2018: rank 21Belgium 2019: rank 25Belgium 2020: rank 22Belgium 2021: rank 22Belgium 2022: rank 21Belgium 2023: rank 22Belgium 2024: rank 25Belgium 2025: rank 26Belgium 2026: rank 27#18#27

OECD Context

Each row places all 38 countries on a 0–100 score scale for one measure. Belgium is highlighted; the dashed line is the OECD median.

All 38 Countries' Ranks

Overall and category ranks for all 38 countries
CountryOverallCorporateIndividualConsumptionPropertyCross-border
Estonia#1#2#1#24#1#7
Latvia#2#1#8#22#4#6
New Zealand#3#31#7#1#8#14
Switzerland#4#7#9#4#36#2
Lithuania#5#3#10#23#6#16
Luxembourg#6#20#21#7#15#5
Czech Republic#7#9#4#32#5#11
Australia#8#29#14#9#3#23
Turkey#9#21#6#15#22#8
Hungary#10#5#3#38#23#4
Israel#11#11#31#11#10#18
Slovak Republic#12#24#2#33#7#17
Sweden#13#6#18#26#9#12
Costa Rica#14#35#13#6#11#29
Canada#15#17#28#8#25#28
Netherlands#16#23#30#14#20#3
United States#17#8#17#3#27#37
Austria#18#18#27#17#17#10
Germany#19#30#34#13#12#9
Norway#20#15#29#27#16#15
Mexico#21#28#26#12#2#38
Finland#22#10#24#28#21#24
Greece#23#22#5#29#30#19
Chile#24#32#23#10#13#36
Slovenia#25#14#12#30#24#30
Korea#26#26#38#2#31#34
Belgium#27#16#15#25#28#21
Japan#28#36#35#5#26#31
Ireland#29#4#36#35#18#27
United Kingdom#30#25#22#34#33#1
Denmark#31#19#37#20#14#32
Poland#32#12#11#36#29#25
Portugal#33#34#19#21#19#33
Iceland#34#13#32#19#34#26
Spain#35#33#20#18#35#20
Italy#36#27#16#37#38#22
Colombia#37#37#25#16#37#35
France#38#38#33#31#32#13

Among European Peers

Belgium ranks 18th of 27 European OECD members on the overall index.

Source: 2026 International Tax Competitiveness Index.

Notes on the Data

The 2026 Index uses the most up-to-date data available as of July 2026. Data may not reflect changes in countries making rapid reforms.

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About the Authors

Alex Mengden Tax Foundation
Expert

Alex Mengden

Economist

Alex Mengden is an Economist at the Tax Foundation, where he focuses on international tax issues and tax policy in Europe. He holds a BA in philosophy and economics from the University of Bayreuth and an MSc in economics from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

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Luis Zarka

Transatlantic Tax Fellow

Luis Zarka was a 2026 Transatlantic Tax Fellow with the Tax Foundation’s Center for Global Tax Policy.

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