Bearing the Heart of R&D

Belgium Investment Incentives

R&D: Belgium offers a range of comprehensive support services and subsidies to companies, research centers, and other legal entities engaged in R&D projects. For example, grants for research or development projects with up to 25%-60% of the project’s budget with minimum support of EUR 100,000; R&D payroll tax incentive – exemption from paying up to 80% of withholding tax on researchers’ income, and others.

Green incentives: Belgium is also actively offering investment support for ecological investments. For example, the Ecology Premium-Plus (EP-Plus) programme in the Flanders region - grants 5 to 25% of the value of the ecological investment, with a maximum of EUR 1 million; the limited list of eligible technologies is currently limited to 30 across three categories.

Other: Special tax status for expatriate executives and researchers – tax-free allowances of max. 30% of the gross salary (limited to EUR 90,000 per year); in addition, certain costs may be reimbursed, incl. relocation costs in the first 6 months after arrival (max. EUR 1,500) and schooling fees.

Overview: Belgium provides comprehensive grants and incentives support to businesses across a wide range of sectors and activities. Availability of specific prorammes, eligibility criteria, and funding mechanisms will differ across the three main administrative regions – Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. At the federal level, attractive fiscal systems provide various tax exemptions and deductions.

Capital:   Brussels
Surface area:  30,530 km²
Population:  11.6 mil
Unemployment:    5.6%
Currency:  Euro
GDP growth: 3.1% 
FDI net inflow (% of GDP) in 2021: 4.5%

Prospective sectors: Life sciences and health, chemicals, logistics and transportation, micro- and nanoelectronics, automotive

Worth knowing: Despite its modest size in terms of area and population, thanks to Belgium’s central position in Europe (200 million consumers within a 500 km radius), highly-skilled and productive labour – the country has been successful in attracting foreign investors. Biotechnology, chemicals, and nanotechnology are some of the areas where Belgium excels.

Antwerp is the second-largest port and the biggest petrochemical complex in Europe, as well as processing roughly 80% of the world’s rough diamonds. Belgium also boasts one of the highest pharmaceutical exports and R&D expenditures per capita.