In a recent circular letter of 27 October 2025, the Belgian tax authorities confirmed that they will align with the Court of Cassation’s case law on the double taxation of French dividends paid to Belgian tax residents. For more background information, see BDO’s alert Recent rulings on taxation of French-source dividends may provide opportunities and Tax authorities finally accept tax credit on French-source dividends.
Belgian tax residents receiving dividends from abroad often face double taxation: a foreign withholding tax is first applied and Belgium then levies a 30% withholding tax on the net amount. Because the Belgian withholding tax is considered liberating, these dividends are not required to be reported in the Belgian personal income tax return.
Under the current Belgian-French double tax treaty, relief is available in the form of a minimum 15% foreign tax credit (the “FBB” – forfaitair gedeelte van de buitenlandse belasting or “QFIE” - quotité forfaitaire d'impôt étranger).
Until now, the Belgian tax authorities only accepted the foreign tax credit when French dividends were reported in the Belgian income tax return. The administration insists that only the objection procedure applies in this case, limiting the timeframe for a tax claim to one year upon receipt of the tax bill.
The new circular aligns the administration with the Court of Cassation: Belgian taxpayers can now claim the foreign tax credit even if French dividends were not included in their income tax return due to the liberating 30% withholding tax. For these cases, taxpayers can reclaim the excess Belgian withholding tax within a five-year period from January 1st of the year the withholding tax was paid (cf. article 368 CIT 1992). Taxpayers who already reported their French dividends should file a tax claim (within one year following the issuing of the tax assessment notice) if the foreign tax credit has not been applied.
The Belgian tax authorities refuse ex officio exemption requests on the ground that no double taxation exists - both when French dividends have been declared and when they haven’t (due to liberating withholding tax).
However, the Court of Appeal in Ghent recently ruled differently. Based on article 376, §1 CIT 1992, a request for ex officio exemption in case of double taxation can be filed within a five-year period as of January 1st of the year the tax bill was received, provided no final decision has been made regarding a tax claim that was filed. Additionally, the Court of Appeal in Ghent ruled that article 15, §1 and 2 of the Belgian-French double tax treaty should be read in conjunction with article 19.A.1, second paragraph. Based on this reading, Belgium should grant a foreign tax credit of minimum 15% on the net movable income to Belgian tax residents receiving French dividends already subject to French source tax, to avoid double taxation.
Note that the tax credit mechanism is not included in the new Belgian-French double tax treaty, which has not entered into force yet. Under the new treaty, French dividends received by Belgian tax residents will be taxed at 30% on the net dividend (i.e. after foreign tax), aligning them with dividends from other jurisdictions.
