Belgium has a very extensive social security system. Foreigners are also entitled to certain allowances and social services. The benefits which you may enjoy as a foreigner are strictly dependent on the conditions under which you are resident on Belgian soil.
If you are planning to live, work or study in Belgium, your social security entitlements (such as family allowance, pensions, reimbursement of medical costs and work incapacity allowance) depend on agreements. If any, signed between Belgium and your country, as well as on European legislation. Entitlements also depend on your situation and vary according to your nationality and employment status (salaried worker, self-employed, on secondment, retired, etc.). Social security contributions are taken directly from your salary each month. Overall, employees pay 13.07% of their wages into the social security system. Employers, however, pay double, around 27%. Contributions go to the ONSS/RNZ.
The minimum wage and average salaries in Belgium
The employee’s share of contributions goes towards pensions (around 7.5%), sickness and invalidity insurance for healthcare (3.5%) and benefits (1.2%), and unemployment coverage (1%). Additionally, employers contribute towards cover for occupational diseases and accidents at work.
An additional special social security contribution is payable by most workers in Belgium. This varies from €9.30 to €60.94 per month, depending on your household’s income. The final amount payable is adjusted at the end of each year. Overall, there is an annual cap of €731.28 on contributions.
How to collect social security in Belgium
Everyone living and working in Belgium is entitled to social security coverage. However, how much you need to pay depends on whether your country of origin has a social security agreement in place with Belgium. Belgium has social security agreements with all European Economic Area (EEA) countries and 25 non-EEA countries.
Some of these bilateral agreements allow you to transfer or combine your benefits. For example, the EU’s agreement ensures residents only make social security contributions in one country at a time. This allows you to avoid double taxation. To clarify, if you need to claim in Belgium, any periods of insurance, work, and taxation in your home country can be taken into account. If your country doesn’t have a bilateral agreement with Belgium, you might need to make social security contributions in both countries. It’s best to seek advice from your country’s embassy in Belgium or the National Social Security Office (in Dutch, French, and German).
You can use Coming2Belgium, a special online tool developed by the social security institutions, to find out what you are entitled to under the Belgian social security system.
See your entitlements under the Belgian social security system
Social security
The Belgian social security system is based on the payment of social contributions on your income from work. These social contributions serve to finance the social security system.
pensions
The self-employed can also claim social security. The self-employed, therefore, pay a social contribution. This contribution is a lower percentage than the joint contribution of employers and employees, but gives fewer rights. However, the self-employed may pay extra voluntary contributions, which give them additional rights in certain cases. At the beginning, the self-employed pay “provisional contributions”.
For civil servants, there are some rules which differ from those for employees and the self-employed. Employees who work under contract for a government department may claim social security benefits.
There are also supplementary support systems. These supplementary support systems are not paid based on contributions made, but are financed with government resources.
To receive these forms of support, you must meet strict legal conditions. As a rule, these forms of support are dependent on your available income. Foreigners cannot always claim Social Security and support to the same extent as Belgians.
The supplementary support systems are:
Income support
- The income guarantee for the elderly.
- The guaranteed family allowance.
- Payments for people with a handicap.
- Payments for help to the elderly.
Social services
Everyone in Belgium is entitled to social services from the public social welfare centre, CPAS/OCMW. They provide social services so that everyone can live with dignity. They investigate what help is most appropriate given the personal or family circumstances, and offer the appropriate means to meet people’s needs. For asylum seekers and people without legal residence, there are limits to these services. For asylum seekers, the government also subsidises a special reception structure in place of the usual CPAS/OCMW service. For people without legal residence, the service is usually restricted to urgent medical help.
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