Which value do you give the home in the estate declaration in Flanders?

You state a realistic value: what the home would fetch on the market. The Flemish Tax Administration (Vlabel) can check up to 2 years after the declaration whether you did not value it too low (notaris.be). You have three options:

• State a value yourself. That is the cheapest route, but the value has to be realistic, and the Flemish Tax Administration can still check it.
• Have a valuation report drawn up by a surveyor. The costs are for the heirs. The report binds the Flemish Tax Administration if it meets the legal quality requirements and is attached to the declaration.
• Ask the Flemish Tax Administration for a binding valuation. That is free, and the value that comes out of it is what the Tax Administration uses to calculate the inheritance tax.

If you stated a value yourself and sell within 2 years after the declaration for at least 10 % more, you risk additional inheritance tax and a tax increase (notaris.be). If you sell for less than you declared yourself, you get no inheritance tax back.

An example: you declared € 360,000. If you sell within 2 years for € 396,000 or more, the price is at least 10 % higher and the Tax Administration can levy extra. If the Tax Administration then sets the home at € 400,000, two children each inherit € 20,000 more, in the 9 % bracket: that is € 1,800 extra inheritance tax per child, plus a tax increase.

If you had works carried out after the death, that can explain a higher sale price. So keep all invoices for those works (notaris.be).

With a valuation report by a surveyor you can ask for a refund of inheritance tax if the home is later sold at a substantially lower price. With a binding valuation by the Flemish Tax Administration, a later, higher sale price has no effect on the inheritance tax (notaris.be).

You apply for the binding valuation free of charge at the Flemish Tax Administration, before you file the declaration and before the filing deadline expires (Flemish Tax Administration). All heirs who want a binding valuation file an application: together on one form or each separately. It is possible for immovable property in Belgium, if Flemish inheritance tax applies.

The Tax Administration works with a calculation model based on sale prices of comparable homes, and its own valuers review that value and adjust it to the home. This is how the application goes:

• Fill in the application form and file it digitally via MijnVlabel, where you log in with your eID or itsme, or send it by post. You may not use the ordinary contact form for it.
• Send photos and other information about the home straight away; that saves questions afterwards.
• Give correct contact details: a valuer may call you or, if necessary and possible, visit.
• Within 15 calendar days you receive an acknowledgement of receipt. The result is a reasoned report.
• In the declaration, fill in "ABS" at the value of the home, even if the valuation has not yet arrived.
• The application does not extend the filing deadline: so do not wait for the result to file the declaration.
• If you disagree with the value, you can file a reasoned objection within 3 months after receiving the tax assessment (notaris.be).

Inheritance tax (also called succession duties) is calculated per heir, on the share that heir inherits. In the direct line, such as children and parents, and for partners, Flanders counts movable property, such as savings, and immovable property, such as the home, separately (Flemish Tax Administration, checked 28 October 2026). So each of the two starts in the lowest bracket.

An example: two children together inherit a home of € 360,000, each for half. On € 180,000 each, that is 3 % on the first € 50,000 (€ 1,500) and 9 % on the next € 130,000 (€ 11,700): € 13,200 per child. Savings and other movable property count separately, again with 3 % on the first € 50,000.

The Flemish Government has announced a reform and reduction of the inheritance tax, but on 28 October 2026 there was no formal decision on it yet (Flemish Tax Administration). These are the rates that apply now:

• Direct line and partners: 3 % up to € 50,000, 9 % from € 50,000 to € 250,000, 27 % above that, separately for movable and immovable property.
• Brothers and sisters: 25 % up to € 35,000, 30 % up to € 75,000, 55 % above that, on the entire share of each heir (deaths from 1 September 2018).
• Others: 25 % up to € 35,000, 45 % up to € 75,000, 55 % above that, calculated on what these heirs receive together and divided according to each one's share.

Not in Flanders. The surviving partner pays no inheritance tax on the family home if you were married, in a legal cohabitation or had lived together de facto for at least 3 years before the death (Flemish Tax Administration). The family home is the main residence where you lived together at the time of the death.

The exemption also continues to apply after a de facto separation, in case of force majeure such as a long stay in hospital, or if one or both of you moved to a residential care centre or an assisted living flat. It does not apply to a second residence, and children or parents who live there are not exempt.

You apply for the exemption in the declaration, under "Gunstregelingen" (favourable schemes); if you forget, you can still request it with an objection. For movable property, the partner also receives an exemption of € 75,000 for deaths from 1 January 2026, before that it was € 50,000 (Flemish Tax Administration).

Which region levies the inheritance tax depends on the last tax residence of the deceased, not on where the home is located. If they lived in more than one place in Belgium during the last 5 years, the region where that was longest counts (Flemish Tax Administration). So a home in Flanders can fall under the Brussels rules, if the owner lived in Brussels.

In Brussels, six brackets apply in the direct line: 3 % up to € 50,000, 8 % up to € 100,000, 9 % up to € 175,000, 18 % up to € 250,000, 24 % up to € 500,000 and 30 % above that (notaris.be). Partners and heirs in the direct line pay nothing on the first € 15,000 of their share, and the spouse or legally cohabiting partner pays no succession duties on his or her share of the family home.

The binding valuation by the Flemish Tax Administration only exists if Flemish inheritance tax applies. Wallonia has its own rates and rules; ask your notary about those.

A free valuation on a website, including that of Hoobler, is not a valuation report and not a binding valuation. It does not bind the Flemish Tax Administration, and you cannot fall back on it if the Administration later questions the value. For the declaration you choose one of the three routes above.

What it does help with: a first idea of the value, based on the address, for the conversation between heirs. That way you start from the same figure when you discuss whether you sell, one of you takes over or you wait a while longer. If you are in doubt about which route suits the declaration, discuss it with your notary.

If you are thinking of a sale within 2 years, it helps to have the documents for the home ready already. You can do that for free in a sales dossier at Hoobler, at your own pace.

Do you need a valuation report for the estate declaration?

No, it is not compulsory. You may state a realistic value yourself, have a valuation report drawn up by a surveyor, or ask the Flemish Tax Administration for a free binding valuation (notaris.be). A valuation report or a binding valuation gives more certainty if you sell within 2 years.

What does a binding valuation by Vlabel cost?

Nothing. The binding valuation by the Flemish Tax Administration (Vlabel) is free. You apply for it before you file the declaration and before the filing deadline expires, via MijnVlabel or by post.

What if I sell the house within 2 years for more than in the declaration?

If you stated the value yourself and the sale price is at least 10 % higher, you risk additional inheritance tax and a tax increase (notaris.be). If you had a binding valuation by the Flemish Tax Administration, a higher sale price changes nothing about the inheritance tax.

How do you calculate the inheritance tax on a home?

Per heir, on the share of the home that heir inherits. In the direct line and between partners, that is 3 % up to € 50,000, 9 % up to € 250,000 and 27 % above that in Flanders, separately for the home and for movable property (Flemish Tax Administration, checked 28 October 2026). If a child inherits half of a home of € 360,000, it pays € 13,200.

Do I have to pay inheritance tax on our house if my partner dies?

Not on the family home in Flanders, if you were married, in a legal cohabitation or had lived together de facto for at least 3 years (Flemish Tax Administration). You apply for that exemption in the declaration, under "Gunstregelingen" (favourable schemes). A second residence does not fall under it.

Can I use the free Hoobler valuation for the declaration?

No. It is a starting point for the conversation between heirs, not a valuation report and not a binding valuation. For the declaration you state a realistic value yourself, have a surveyor value the home or ask the Flemish Tax Administration for a binding valuation.

• notaris.be, Onroerende goederen aangeven in de aangifte van nalatenschap
• Vlaamse Belastingdienst, Aanvraag van een bindende schatting (ABS)
• Vlaamse Belastingdienst, Indieningstermijn voor de aangifte van nalatenschap
• Vlaamse Belastingdienst, Algemeen tarief in de erfbelasting
• Vlaamse Belastingdienst, Vrijstelling van erfbelasting op de gezinswoning voor de langstlevende partner
• Vlaamse Belastingdienst, Partnerabattement voor de roerende goederen in de erfbelasting
• Vlaamse Belastingdienst, Wanneer en waar is de erfbelasting verschuldigd?
• notaris.be, De successierechten in het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest

Last checked on 28 October 2026.