Rental property 2026: own name vs SRL, taxation and returns

Property remains the second favourite wealth-building vehicle of the self-employed in Belgium, after the supplementary pension. Three features shape this market: an effective leverage effect from borrowing (2026 mortgage rates ~3-3.5% over 25 years), specific taxation (cadastral income in your own name, corporate income tax in an SRL), and low liquidity (6-12 months to resell).

The typical gross yield on a well-located flat in Belgium is around 3.5% to 5% (Statbel 2025). The net return after property withholding tax, vacancies, charges, management and personal income tax falls to 2-3.5%. The potential capital gain on resale (exempt after 5 years in your own name) is what makes the investment attractive in the long term.

The structural choice, own name or SRL, determines the entire taxation of the project. It must be settled before the purchase, because restructuring afterwards (contributing the property to a company, for example) triggers significant notarial and tax costs.

Holding a rental property through an SRL changes the whole tax mechanism. Actual rents are company income, subject to corporate income tax at 20% for SMEs (subject to conditions) or the standard 25%.

Key advantages:

• Full deduction of mortgage interest, with no ceiling, unlike the housing bonus in your own name.
• Accounting depreciation of the property (typically straight-line over 33 years, i.e. 3% a year), which reduces the annual taxable result.
• Deduction of costs: notary, registration duties (spread over time), works, charges, management, property withholding tax.
• Corporate income tax rate of 20% (SME), well below the 50% marginal personal income tax rate.

Major drawbacks:

• Double taxation on the way out: to recover the capital privately, you pay corporate income tax and then 30% withholding tax on movable income on dividends (or personal income tax on remuneration). The combined tax can reach 44%.
• Capital gain taxed: the sale goes into the company's taxable result (vs exemption after 5 years in your own name).
• BIK if used privately: personally occupying a property owned by the company creates a benefit in kind taxable under personal income tax.
• Structural costs: ~€1,500-2,500/year for accounting + filings with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE).

In your own name, the taxation of the capital gain on selling an investment property (other than your main residence) follows the 5-year rule set out in articles 90-91 of the 1992 Income Tax Code (ITC).

• Sale within 5 years of acquisition: capital gain taxed at 16.5% (built property).
• Sale after 5 years: capital gain exempt from tax.
• Sale within 8 years for undeveloped land: taxed at 33% (the rule is stricter for land).
• Main residence: always exempt, with no minimum holding period.

This 5-year rule is one of the main structural advantages of the Belgian property market: over the long term, the capital gain is fully exempt in your own name. That is what makes taxation in your own name very competitive for a patient investor.

Through an SRL, this exemption does not exist: the capital gain on sale goes into the taxable corporate result and is taxed as such. It is one of the major structural drawbacks of holding long-term property through a company.

The gross yield shown in listings (annual rent / purchase price) hides a considerably more modest reality. Here is the path from gross to net for a typical Brussels flat in 2026.

Assumptions: a €250,000 flat (€285,000 including the deed, with 12.5% registration duties + 4% notary/fees), let for €1,100/month to a private individual, financed at 80% LTV with a 25-year mortgage at 3.3%.

• Gross annual rents: €13,200 (gross yield on the deed price ~4.6%).
• Average vacancy of 1 month/year: -€1,100 → €12,100.
• Regional property withholding tax: ~€1,200 → €10,900.
• Service charges, maintenance, insurance: ~€1,500 → €9,400.
• Personal income tax (cadastral income × 1.40 × 50%): ~€1,880 → €7,520.
• Mortgage interest (year 1): ~€7,400 (partly deductible, net effect ~€1,100).
• Net annual cash flow excluding capital: 7,520 − 7,400 = ~€120 (positive but marginal: the return comes from paying down the loan capital + the capital gain).

The direct net return (cash flow) is typically low or even neutral in the first years: rental investment is a long-term arrangement that pays off through the gradual repayment of the capital (the tenant pays off the loan) and the capital gain after 15-25 years. The 5-year rule + the exemption in your own name make this scheme particularly attractive from a tax point of view.