Registration duties in Brussels 2026: what you'll pay

Registration duties in Brussels in 2026: 12.5% with a €200,000 allowance, or 3% in Wallonia. Our figures from €300,000 to €700,000 and the expat trap.

Registration duties in Brussels are 12.5% in 2026, but the first €200,000 are tax free when you buy your main home and the taxable base is €600,000 or less. In Wallonia, your only home is taxed at 3% of the full price, with no cap. On a €450,000 home, that means €31,250 in Brussels and €13,500 in Wallonia.

The short version

Brussels: 12.5%, with a €200,000 allowance (the abattement, worth up to €25,000) for a main home whose taxable base, charges included, is €600,000 or less.
Wallonia: 3% on the whole price for your only home since 1 January 2025, with no price cap.
Buy-to-let or second home: 12.5% in both regions.
Flanders: 2% for your sole own home since 1 January 2025.
The expat trap: a home you fully own abroad blocks the Brussels allowance, unless you sell it within 2 years.

Registration duties in Brussels: 12.5% with a €200,000 allowance

Registration duties (droits d'enregistrement) are the regional tax a buyer pays on a property purchase. The notary collects them, and the rate depends on where the property is, not on your nationality.

In Brussels the rate is 12.5% of the price plus charges. For your main home, the first €200,000 are not taxed, which saves up to €25,000.

Who qualifies

You buy as a private individual, and you buy the whole property in full ownership.
The taxable base, charges included, is €600,000 or less.
On the day you sign the sale agreement (the compromis), you do not fully own another home. That date counts, not the date of the final deed.
You make the property your main residence within 3 years.
You live there for at least 5 years without interruption.

If you move out earlier, you repay part of the benefit, in proportion to the years left.

Own a home abroad? The 2-year rule

This is the point most international buyers miss. The Belgian notaries' federation states that the other-home test covers a home in Belgium or abroad. A flat you fully own in Paris, London or Madrid counts.

If you still own it on the day of the compromis, you first pay 12.5% on the full price. You can then claim the allowance back if you sell that home within 2 years of registering your Brussels purchase.

Example: you buy at €450,000 while still owning a flat abroad, so you pay €56,250 upfront. Sell the flat within 2 years and you can recover €25,000, bringing the bill down to €31,250. Plan your financing for that gap.

The energy renovation bonus

Brussels adds €25,000 of extra allowance for each EPC (PEB) class gained, with a minimum of two classes.

The work must gain at least two classes within 5 years of registering the purchase.
You then have 5 years, instead of 3, to make it your main residence.
The bonus only applies if you qualify for the main allowance.

Example: a €500,000 house rated F, renovated to D. The allowance rises to €250,000 and the duties drop from €37,500 to €31,250.

The official page does not say how the gain must be proven or what happens if the target is missed, so ask your notary. For sellers, the bonus can be a sales argument.

The €800,000 cap: announced, not in force

According to La Libre (13 February 2026), the Brussels government agreement plans to raise the cap to €800,000 in 2029, budget permitting. It is an announcement only. In 2026 the cap is still €600,000.

Wallonia: 3% on the whole price

Since 1 January 2025, buying your only home in Wallonia has been taxed at 3% instead of 12.5%, on the full price. The decree sets no price cap.

Who qualifies (checked against the decree)

You are a private individual buying the whole of a home in full ownership as your main residence. Building land and off-plan purchases qualify too.
At the time of purchase, you do not fully own another home. If you do, the 3% rate still applies if you sell it or give it away within 3 years.
You make it your main residence within 3 years (5 years for land, construction or off-plan).
You live there for at least 3 years without interruption.
The request is written into the deed by your notary.

If you break a condition, you pay the difference with the 12.5% rate plus legal interest, except for force majeure or compelling family, medical, professional or social reasons.

What was scrapped in 2025

The 3% rate replaced the old Walloon allowance, the chèque habitat tax credit and the reduced rate for modest homes. Any site still quoting a Walloon 6% rate or allowance is out of date.

What about Flanders?

Looking at the Flemish periphery too? According to vlaanderen.be, buying your sole own home (enige eigen woning) has been taxed at 2% since 1 January 2025. Flemish conditions differ, so check them with your notary.

How much will you pay? €300,000 to €700,000

Assumptions: main home meeting all conditions, duties on the price only, no renovation bonus. In Brussels up to €600,000: (price minus €200,000) × 12.5%.

€300,000: €12,500 in Brussels, €9,000 in Wallonia. Difference: €3,500.
€400,000: €25,000 in Brussels, €12,000 in Wallonia. Difference: €13,000.
€450,000: €31,250 in Brussels, €13,500 in Wallonia. Difference: €17,750.
€500,000: €37,500 in Brussels, €15,000 in Wallonia. Difference: €22,500.
€600,000: €50,000 in Brussels, €18,000 in Wallonia. Difference: €32,000.
€650,000: €81,250 in Brussels, €19,500 in Wallonia. Difference: €61,750.
€700,000: €87,500 in Brussels, €21,000 in Wallonia. Difference: €66,500.

The €600,000 threshold: what buyers and sellers should know

At €600,000, you pay €50,000 in duties. At €601,000, you pay €75,125. One thousand euros more on the price costs €25,125 more in duties.

This matters in practice. According to the notaries' figures for the first 9 months of 2026, the average Brussels house sells for €609,227, just above the cap: €76,153 in duties. The average apartment sells for €301,666, well below it: about €12,708 with the allowance.

Buying? The cap applies to the taxable base, charges included, so check with your notary that charges do not push you over €600,000. You can also browse our properties for sale.

Selling? For your buyer, a home at €620,000 costs €697,500 with duties. At €600,000 it costs €650,000. A €20,000 price cut saves the buyer €47,500 in total.

That is the kind of pricing we look at in a free valuation, alongside our Brussels property prices by commune.

Total buying costs: duties, notary and mortgage

On top of the duties come the notary's fees, administrative costs and, if you borrow, the mortgage deed.

Notary fees follow a sliding legal scale, from 4.56% on the first €7,500 down to 0.057% above €250,095, plus 21% VAT.

Example at €450,000, main home:

Registration duties: €31,250 in Brussels, €13,500 in Wallonia.
Notary fees on the scale: about €2,563 before VAT, about €3,100 with VAT.
Subtotal: about €34,350 in Brussels and €16,600 in Wallonia.

This is an order of magnitude: it leaves out administrative costs and the mortgage deed, which depends on the amount borrowed. For an exact figure, use the calculator on notaire.be or ask your notary for a cost estimate.

Same budget, two addresses: Brussels or Walloon Brabant

Here is the highest price you can reach on a fixed budget (price plus duties, notary costs excluded) for a main home:

€450,000 budget: about €422,200 in Brussels, €436,900 in Wallonia. That is €14,700 more property in Wallonia.
€550,000 budget: about €511,100 in Brussels, €534,000 in Wallonia. €22,900 more.
€700,000 budget: about €622,200 in Brussels, €679,600 in Wallonia. €57,400 more.

One surprise: in Brussels, with a budget between €650,000 and €675,000, you cannot go above €600,000. The first euro over the cap takes the total to €675,000.

Prices differ too. The average house costs €477,816 in Walloon Brabant (first 9 months of 2026), about €492,150 with duties, against about €685,380 in Brussels. These are not the same houses, and your commute, the EPC rating and any renovation work matter as much as the duties.

Frequently asked questions

How much are registration duties on a €400,000 home in Brussels?

For your main home, you pay €25,000: 12.5% on €200,000, because the first €200,000 of the price are exempt. Without the allowance, for example on a buy-to-let, the bill rises to €50,000. In Wallonia, the same price for your only home costs €12,000 in duties.

I own a home abroad. Can I get the Brussels allowance?

Not while you keep it. A home you fully own in Belgium or abroad on the day of the compromis blocks the allowance. You pay 12.5% on the full price first, then you can recover the allowance if you sell the other home within 2 years of registering your Brussels purchase.

We are buying as a couple and one of us already owns a home. What happens?

In Wallonia, the decree keeps the 3% rate for the share of the partner who owns no other home. The other share is taxed at 12.5% unless that home is sold or given away within 3 years. In Brussels, the test is on the compromis date: check your situation with your notary before signing.

Do registration duties apply to a new build sold with VAT?

Not on the building itself. A new building can be sold under the VAT regime, usually at 21%, and registration duties then apply to the land. In Brussels, the allowance only works on the part subject to duties, so for an off-plan purchase ask the notary how land and building are split.

When do you pay registration duties?

You pay them to the notary, together with the other costs, before signing the final deed. The notary then presents the deed for registration within 15 days of signing and pays the duties at that point. Budget for this amount from the day you sign the compromis, on top of your deposit.

Can you get duties back if you resell quickly?

Partly. According to the notaries' federation, if you resell in Brussels within 2 years of your purchase deed, you can recover 36% of the duties paid, on request within 2 years of the resale. If you had the allowance, leaving before 5 years also means repaying part of that benefit.

Sources

Up to date as of 25 October 2026. This article is general information, not tax advice. Rules change: your notary will always confirm your own situation before you sign.