Are you currently self-employed in Belgium and planning to stop your freelance activity? Maybe because you’re retiring, or have accepted a position as an employee? Or maybe for another reason entirely. In this article, we explain all the steps you need to take to avoid nasty surprises later.
The priorities when stopping your business
When you decide to stop being self-employed, it’s not enough to inform your clients and suppliers. Here are the three main steps you need to take when ending your self-employment in Belgium:
- Deregister your business number from the BCE/KBO
- Deactivate your VAT number
- Stop your social security contributions
For each of these steps, you can contact your social secretariat or business counter. We walk you through each step below.
1. Deregistering from the BCE/KBO
When you cease your activity as a self-employed sole trader in Belgium, the first step is to have your business number deleted from the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (BCE/KBO). You’ll receive an attestation with the date and the reason why you’re stopping your activity. You’ll need this attestation for the other steps you have to take.
- When: Immediately
- How: Inform your social secretariat (Liantis, Xerius, etc.) of your decision to stop your activity and request the deletion of your registration in the BCE/KBO
- Cost: €109 per establishment unit (in 2024)
2. Deactivating your VAT number
With the attestation from step 1, you can deactivate your VAT number, which ends your VAT reporting obligations in Belgium.
- When: Within one month of your registration in the BCE/KBO being deleted
- How: Via your social secretariat or business counter (often a paid service) or directly via the VAT administration. This last option is free, and you just need to fill out form 604C online
- Cost: Free or for a small admin fee, depending on your social secretariat
⚠️ Don’t forget to file a VAT return for your final quarter. You need to do this whether you stop at the beginning or end of the quarter. The VAT administration will probably schedule a VAT audit with you. You’ll then receive the final statement and may still have to pay the VAT balance.
Do you have any outstanding amortisations or depreciations? You may have to repay part of the VAT you recovered.
💡 Accountable tip: You can choose to sell any ongoing investments second-hand, including to yourself. Fix an amount that corresponds to market price and don’t forget to include this last income in your accounts.
3. Stopping your social security contributions
You can also stop your social security contributions. You’ll still have to pay your provisional social security contribution for the quarter in which you stop your activity. The amount will then be recalculated based on your income from this last year of activity as a self-employed individual in Belgium.
- When: As soon as possible
- How: Via your social secretariat
- Cost: Free or for a small admin fee, depending on your social secretariat
It’s worth remembering that over the following two years, various adjustments will be made based on your actual income from your last two years of activity.
Other practical aspects
At this stage, don’t forget to take the necessary steps to stop paying any fixed costs related to your business. Be especially careful with automatic renewals like software subscriptions and licences, or subscriptions to professional journals, etc.
And of course, inform your customers and suppliers. If possible, refer them to a colleague. That’s a nice gesture towards your clients, to thank them for the collaboration, and it’s sure to be appreciated by the colleague in question too.
Stopping a self-employed activity isn’t the same as changing it
The previous steps are all related to stopping your self-employed activity entirely. If you’re self-employed in Belgium and only want to change the legal form of your business, other rules apply.
Switching to a secondary occupation
If you want to switch to being self-employed in a secondary occupation in Belgium, you don’t need to deactivate your VAT number. However, you must inform the various authorities of the change. You can do this via your social secretariat, which will also take care of reducing your social security contributions. Because if you have a job as an employee, your social security is at least partly covered by your employer.
Changing activity
If you switch to another activity, you keep your VAT number. However, you must inform the VAT administration of the change. When you started your business as a sole trader in Belgium, you probably indicated several NACE codes, representing the different activities you planned to offer. If your main activity changes or you have new activities requiring new NACE codes, the VAT administration must be informed.
💡Changing from a sole tradership to a company? Read this article.
Another change may be the move from being VAT exempt to being subject to VAT, or vice versa. Here too, the VAT administration and your social secretariat must be informed. If you’re newly subject to VAT, you will now have to file a VAT return every quarter. And if, conversely, you’re no longer subject to VAT, of course, you no longer have to worry about those returns.
Want to know more? VAT exemption: when and for whom?
Your tax obligations after stopping your business
We’ve covered the first steps you need to take when you stop being self-employed in Belgium. But before you can definitively turn the page, there are still several tax obligations you need to deal with.
1. Your last VAT return
You need to file a VAT return for each quarter started and pay the final VAT balance. It’s also likely that the VAT administration will contact you for a final audit.
2. Your last client listing
Don’t forget to submit your last client listing. Be careful though: you need to do this the year you stopped your activity. So don’t wait until 31 March of the following year.
💡 Accountable tip: Export your client listing from Accountable now and submit it immediately. You might as well do all the paperwork at once while you still have the data at hand via Accountable. Later, you might forget about it. And it would be a shame to end your freelance adventure with a fine.
3. Your tax return
Whether you’re an employee, a self-employed sole trader, or a company director, you need to submit a tax declaration every year. But be warned: for the year you stop your self-employed activity, you’ll have to add your self-employed income to your salary, pension or benefits.
Your social security after stopping your business
Now that you’ve stopped paying your social security contributions, you need an alternative to keep your social security in Belgium in order. For this, contact your health insurance fund within 15 days of ending your activity.
You have several options:
- Are you retired? Enjoy your retirement. 😊
- Do you already have a new job as an employee or civil servant? Then your salary now covers your social security.
- Are you looking for a new job? Register with the Forem or Actiris as a jobseeker and contact the relevant authorities to check whether you’re entitled to unemployment benefits.
- Have you stopped working due to illness, disability or any other reason that results in your incapacity to work? You’ll probably receive benefits through your health insurance fund.
- If you’re neither employed nor receive any form of benefits, you may be able to be registered as a ‘dependent’, for example, of your partner.
- ‘Continued insurance’: by paying a reduced social security contribution, you can continue to build up pension rights and retain the right to family allowances. You can only do this for the first two years after ceasing your self-employed activity, or the last five years before your official retirement age. You can also combine these two periods, starting seven years before your retirement age.
We’ll miss you
If you stop your freelance activity, you’ll probably also end your Accountable subscription. But don’t do this until after you’ve submitted your last VAT return and your last client listing. Download all your documents and files from the app before stopping your subscription, in case you still need them.We’re sad to see you go, but we want to wish you continued success and happiness in whatever paths you choose to explore.
The Accountable Team ✨
