Capital gains tax on the sale of a home in Belgium
Whoever sells a home at a profit wonders whether the tax authority takes a share. Usually not: for a built home the capital gains tax only comes into play with a sale within 5 years, and your own home is exempt. Here you read when you do pay, how much, and how the profit is calculated.
If you sell a built home within 5 years after the purchase, you pay 16. % capital gains tax on the profit, unless it was your own home without interruption for at least 12 months immediately before the sale (FOD Financiën and notaris.be, checked on 28 October 2026). On an inherited home you pay no capital gains tax. For a building plot that you bought, it is 3 % on a sale within 5 years and 16. % between 5 and 8 years after the purchase.
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The capital gains tax on real estate is a federal tax and applies throughout Belgium, for property located in Belgium. The rate on a building is 16. % on the profit (notaris.be). For a built home you only owe it in these cases (FOD Financiën, the federal tax authority, explanatory notes to the tax return, assessment year 2026):
You bought the home and sell it within 5 years after the purchase.
You received the home as a gift and sell it within 3 years after the gift and within 5 years after the donor bought it.
You had the home built on land that you bought or received as a gift, the works started within 5 years after the purchase of the land, and you sell within 5 years after the first occupation or letting.
Part 2
Do you pay capital gains tax on your own home?
In most cases not. If you sell within 5 years after the purchase, the profit is still exempt if, in the period immediately before the month of the sale, the home was your own home without interruption for at least 12 months. Between those 12 months and the month of the sale there may be at most 6 more months in which the home was not in use (FOD Financiën).
Your own home is the home that you occupy yourself, or that you do not occupy yourself for professional reasons, for reasons of a social nature, because of a legal or contractual impediment, or because the construction or renovation works are still in progress. You have only one own home at a time (FOD Financiën).
An example: you bought a flat in March 2023, lived there until the end of May 2026 and sell it in October 2026. It was your own home for well over 12 months and stood empty for less than 6 months, so your profit is exempt.
Part 3
What about a second residence or a rental home?
A second residence, a holiday home or a home that you let is not your own home. If you sell it at a profit within 5 years after the purchase, you pay 16. % capital gains tax (notaris.be, FOD Financiën). After 5 years the profit on a built home is no longer taxable as a capital gain.
An example: you bought a flat at the coast in 2023 and sell it in 2026. That falls within the 5 years, so a profit is taxable. If you wait until after the fifth anniversary of the purchase deed, it is not.
Whoever buys and sells property as a profession or as speculation falls under other rules: profit from speculation is miscellaneous income that you declare separately (FOD Financiën). Have that checked by an accountant.
Part 4
What about a building plot?
For land, longer periods and higher rates apply. If you bought the land, the capital gain is taxable if you sell within 8 years after the purchase: 3 % if you sell within 5 years, 16. % if you sell later (FOD Financiën). Municipal surcharges come on top (notaris.be).
If you received the land as a gift, the capital gain is taxable if you sell within 3 years after the gift and within 8 years after the donor bought the land (FOD Financiën).
If there is a building on the land that is worth less than 3 % of the sale price of the whole, the whole is treated as land (FOD Financiën). An old home that is sold mainly for the land can therefore fall under the rules for land.
Part 5
Do you pay capital gains tax on an inherited or gifted home?
On a home or land that you inherited, you pay no capital gains tax on the sale (notaris.be). The taxable cases only concern property that you bought or received as a gift (FOD Financiën). With an inherited home, do watch the value in the estate declaration: if within 2 years you sell for at least 1 % more than you declared yourself, you risk additional inheritance tax (notaris.be).
With a gifted home the donor’s period continues. You only pay if you sell within 3 years after the gift and also within 5 years after the donor bought the home (FOD Financiën). If your parent bought the home 20 years ago, you pay no capital gains tax, not even if you sell shortly after the gift.
If an administrator sells the home of someone under judicial protection, with a special authorisation from the justice of the peace, the capital gain is exempt. The same applies to the home of a minor, with an authorisation from the court (FOD Financiën).
Part 6
How is the capital gain calculated?
The capital gain is not simply sale price minus purchase price. FOD Financiën asks that you draw up the calculation like this and keep it available for the tax authority (explanatory notes to the tax return, assessment year 2026):
Start from the sale price on which the registration duty or the VAT was calculated, minus the costs of the sale.
Take the purchase price, if applicable that of the donor, and add the purchase costs, at least 2 % of that price.
Add % of that total for each full year between purchase and sale.
Add the costs of works to the building that were carried out for you and invoiced to you between purchase and sale. Keep those invoices.
Deduct compensation you received for damage to the building.
The difference between the sale side and the purchase side is your taxable capital gain.
Part 7
A worked example, and how do you declare the capital gain?
You bought a second home in June 2023 for € 00,000 and sell it in October 2026 for € 60,000, with € ,000 in sale costs. You had no works carried out.
The sale side is € 60,000 minus € ,000, so € 57,000. The purchase side is € 00,000 plus 2 % purchase costs, together € 50,000, plus 3 full years at % of that amount, so € 7,500. That makes € 87,500. The sale side is lower, so there is no taxable capital gain.
If you sell the same home for € 20,000, the sale side is € 17,000 and the capital gain € 9,500. At 16. % that is € ,867.50 capital gains tax.
A taxable capital gain you declare in your personal income tax return, in part 2, under miscellaneous income. Keep your calculation and the invoices available for the tax authority (FOD Financiën). If you are unsure whether your sale falls under it, ask your notary or accountant before the sale agreement.
Frequently asked questions
Answered briefly.
Do you pay capital gains tax on your own house?
Usually not. After 5 years the profit on a built home is not taxable, and within 5 years not either if the home was your own home without interruption for at least 12 months immediately before the sale, with at most 6 months of vacancy before the month of the sale (FOD Financiën).
How much capital gains tax do you pay on a second residence?
16. % on the capital gain if you sell it within 5 years after the purchase (notaris.be). You calculate the capital gain after deducting purchase costs of at least 2 % and % per full year, plus the invoices for works (FOD Financiën). After 5 years you pay nothing.
Do you pay capital gains tax on an inherited house?
No. On a home that you inherited, you pay no capital gains tax on the sale (notaris.be). If within 2 years after the estate declaration you sell for at least 1 % more than you declared, you do risk additional inheritance tax.
Do you pay capital gains tax if you sell a gifted home?
Only if you sell within 3 years after the gift and within 5 years after the donor bought the home (FOD Financiën). If the donor had the home for more than 5 years, you pay nothing.
How much capital gains tax do you pay on a building plot?
3 % if you sell the land within 5 years after the purchase and 16. % between 5 and 8 years (FOD Financiën), plus municipal surcharges (notaris.be). After 8 years the capital gain is not taxable.
Where do you declare a capital gain on a home?
In your personal income tax return, in part 2, under miscellaneous income (FOD Financiën). Your calculation and the invoices for works you keep available for the tax authority.
Once you know whether your capital gain is taxable, the question remains how you sell. The selling guide helps you choose, yourself or with a realtor, based on your home and your time.