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How to reduce your social security contributions in Flanders

Flanders, Belgium’s northern region in the heart of Europe, offers access to various reductions on social security contributions, helping you optimize salary costs and lower your overall labor costs. Below are the most prominent ones.

For first recruitments

Companies that set up a first base in Flanders can benefit from a social security reduction scheme related to first recruits. In a nutshell, they receive:

  • a lifelong exemption from social security contributions (SSCs) for the first employee hired;
  • further SSC reductions for the next five employees hired (for a period of over three years).

Overview: quarterly reductions on employers' SSCs in Flanders (as of Jan. 2022)

  Quarter 1 to 5 Quarter 6 to 9 Quarter 10 to 13
1st employee € 4,000 during the entire employment period € 4,000 during the entire employment period € 4,000 during the entire employment period
2nd employee € 1,550 € 1,050 € 450
3rd employee € 1,050 € 1,050 € 450
4th employee € 1,050 € 1,050 € 450
5th employee € 1,050 € 1,050 € 450
6th employee € 1,050 € 1,050 € 450

For low-skilled workers

Does your company operate a base in Flanders, and are you hiring someone under the age of 25? In that case, the social security contributions you need to pay for this employee will be reduced for a period of two years. During the first eight quarters of employment, you don’t need to pay the basic employer contributions for low-skilled workers.

However, conditions in terms of maximum wage apply. The employees concerned may not earn more than:

  • EUR 7,500 per quarter during their first year of employment; 
  • EUR 8,100 per quarter during the second year.

For older employees

To make hiring seasoned workers more attractive, Flanders has introduced a specific reduction scheme related to social security contributions. When hiring a non-working jobseeker over the age of 58, Flanders-based employers based can be exempt from paying basic employer contributions for a total period of 2 years.

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