Vacancy tax: everything you need to know

Do you have a home or building in Flanders that is vacant? If so, you may have to pay vacancy tax. Read here what vacancy means, what types there are, when you have to pay the levy and how the process works.

Contents

• What is vacancy?
• What is vacancy tax?
• Levy on unfit and uninhabitable dwellings
• Levy on vacant and/or neglected commercial buildings

1. What is vacancy?

Vacancy refers to dwellings or buildings that are not used according to their function for a certain period of time.

2. What is vacancy tax?

If your home or building has been listed in the Flemish Inventory of Unsuitable and Uninhabitable Housing (VIVOO) for more than 12 consecutive months, the Flemish Region applies a Flemish regional tax on vacant and and neglected commercial buildings and homes. Some Flemish municipalities (list) levy their own taxes on empty dwellings. In that case, you do not have to pay any more Flemish regional tax. There are 2 types of vacancy tax:

• levy on unfit and uninhabitable housing.
• tax on vacant and neglected commercial buildings.

3. Levy on unfit and uninhabitable dwellings.

Levy on unfit and uninhabitable housing is also called “slum tax.”

3.1. Wanneer moet je leegstandsheffing betalen?

You have to pay vacancy tax:

• If your building or dwelling is included in this inventory of unfit or uninhabitable dwellings for 12 consecutive months.
• after you receive the assessment notice. You’ll receive it in the quarter following the quarter in which the statute of limitations on inventory withdrawals falls.

So suppose: Your building was listed in inventory on March 15, 2024 (= Q1 2024), then you will be sent an assessment notice in Q2 2025. So this is between April 1, 2025 and June 30, 2024.

3.2. Hoe verloopt de opname in de inventaris?

Living in Flanders automatically includes your home in the inventory. The inventory manager will send you a letter in the quarter immediately preceding the anniversary of your inventory listing. In the quarter following the anniversary of the inclusion of your property, you will receive an assessment notice from the Flemish Tax Administration if you have to pay the tax.

3.3. Wat zijn de tarieven van leegstandsheffing op woningen?

The Flemish regional tax depends on the year you were included in the inventory and the number of years you have been in it.

3.3.1. De formule Vlaamse gewestbelasting voor leegstand (vanaf 2021):

Flemish vacancy tax = B x (P + 1)

In which:

• B = that year’s base rate.
• P = the number of 12-month periods that your home or building is included in the inventory without a single break (with a max. of 4 years).

(Source table: Flanders)

3.3.2. De formule Vlaamse gewestbelasting voor leegstand (vóór 2021):

Flemish vacancy tax = KI x (P + 1)

In which:

• B = the indexed cadastral income of your home or building (with a min. of 990 euros).
• P = the number of 12-month periods that your home or building is included in the inventory without a single break (with a max. of 4 years).

3.3.3. De gemeentebelasting voor de leegstandsheffing:

• For a room, this is at least 500 euros.
• For any other type of home, this is at least 990 euros.

Notice:

• These rates vary by municipality. View rates and calculation by municipality via Flanders website.
• Fees increase each year the property remains on the registry.

3.4. Wie moet de leegstandsheffing betalen?

This depends on whether or not the property was sold and whether or not you reported it to the inventory manager in a timely manner:

• To make this sale official, you must complete and sign a form called “Notification of Transfer of Right in Possession” as seller and buyer.
• You must forward this form to the inventory manager within 30 days of the notarization.

3.4.1. Als de woning niet werd verkocht in het aanslagjaar

The person who must pay the tax is the person who has full ownership, usufruct or right of superficies or long leases on the building at the time of the expiration of the first 12-month period (that the property is included in the inventory). If you have not completed the form on time or correctly, then:

• From 2021: the buyer is the taxpayer.
• Before 2021: the seller is the taxpayer.

Note: If the notarial deed is granted before 2021, you must declare the sale to the Flemish Tax Administration and the inventory manager within 7 calendar days.

3.4.2. Als de woning wel werd verkocht in het aanslagjaar

The person who must pay the tax is the buyer of the property.

3.5. Vrijstellingen van de leegstandsheffing

In some cases there is an exemption from the tax. You must apply for this exemption with an application form and the necessary supporting documents. The inventory manager will officially grant you the exemption. In these cases, you will not normally receive an assessment notice. Exemptions:

• Your property is for sale or rent.
• You will reside in a licensed elderly facility.
• Your home was affected by disaster or force majeure.
• You received all or part of the property by inheritance or will.
• You entered into a renovation contract for your home and have the necessary permits to do so.
• You perform renovation work for at least 10,000 euros, which does not require permits.
• The municipality takes your property into social management law and thus will renovate it and later rent it out as social housing.
• Your property is within the boundaries of an approved expropriation plan or on which an expropriation plan is being prepared.
• You use the home completely and exclusively as your main residence and you have no other home. You must document this in a declaration of honor.
• …

Note: Exemptions may vary from one municipality to another. If you apply for an exemption, you do need to include supporting documents (invoices, quotes, photos, official document, statement from your notary or broker, etc.).

3.6. Opschorting van de leegstandsheffing

In some cases, you may have your taxes suspended. You must request this suspension with a request form and the necessary supporting documents. The inventory manager will officially grant you the suspension. Cases for suspension:

• If you are new owner of the property you can get 2 years suspension(conditions).
• If you have an environmental permit to demolish your home, you can get 2 or 4 years of suspension(conditions).
• If you have a detailed renovation schedule AND you actually renovate the property you can get 2 or 4 years of suspension(conditions).

4. Levy on vacant and/or neglected commercial buildings.

The proceeds of this tax are deposited to the BRV Fund. The Flemish Government uses the BRV fund to improve vacant and/or neglected commercial buildings. They do this in the form of subsidies. You check “Mijn Dossier Bedrijfsgebouwen” via the Digital Counter.

4.1. Wanneer moet je leegstandsheffing betalen?

Like a commercial building:

• moisture problems.
• no longer ensures stability or safety.
• “Vacant” is: when you have more than 50 percent of the total floor space unused.
• neglected: when there are obvious defects on exterior walls, chimneys, roofing, roof framing, exterior carpentry, cornice, gutters, stairs or elevators.
• generally neglected: when more than half are neglected.
• Limited neglect: when half or less than half is neglected.

You have to pay the tax in the calendar year following the third consecutive year the building was listed in inventory. So suppose: Your building was listed in inventory on March 15, 2024, you will be sent a tax bill in 2027.

4.2. Hoe verloopt de opname in de inventaris?

Each municipality sends a list of business premises and commercial buildings to the Department of the Environment each calendar year. The Department decides which buildings it will or will not register in the inventory. It then sends the certificate of registration via registered mail to the owner of the building.

4.3. Wat zijn de tarieven van leegstandsheffing op bedrijfsruimtes?

The Flemish regional tax depends on the indexed cadastral income of the building on January 1 of the assessment year.

• The tax is at least 3,700 euros.
• For non-agricultural farms, the tax is at least 2.47 euros per square meter of land area (as indicated in the land register).

4.3.1. De tarieven voor leegstandsheffing op bedrijfsruimtes:

4.4. Wie moet de heffing betalen?

The person liable to pay the tax is the person who has full ownership, usufruct or right of superficies or long leases on the building on the January 1 of the assessment year.

4.5. Vrijstellingen van de leegstandsheffing

We found no information on exemptions to this levy. Contact the inventory manager if you want to appeal the levy or have your space suspended or deleted. Send a registered letter (!) with supporting documents (photos, plans, permits, statement from the mayor) to the inventory manager:

Department of Environment
Department of Area Development, environmental planning and projects
Vacant and/or neglected business premises.
Koning Albert II-laan 15 bus 551
1210 Brussels

Note: The inventory manager does not consider emails and regular mail to be official requests. Therefore, he/she does not process these requests.

4.6. Opschorting van de leegstandsheffing

In some cases, you may have your taxes suspended. You must request this suspension with a registered letter and the necessary supporting documents. The inventory manager will officially grant you the suspension. Cases for suspension:

• If you are new owner of the property you can get 2 years suspension(conditions).
• If you have full or partial business premises that are in good condition (i.e., not neglected), you can get 1 year’s suspension(conditions).
• If you created a renewal proposal for your business space, you can get a 2-year suspension(conditions).
• If you apply for deletion(conditions).
• If your business building is included in an inventory with a brownfield covenant(conditions).
• If your commercial building is part of a soil remediation project declared compliant by OVAM(conditions).

Sources: City of Antwerp, Flanders, Vlaio

Would you like to cite this article as a source? Then use:

Stiasteny, L. (2024, July 12). Vacancy tax: Everything you need to know. Apartment.com. Consulted on (date XX/XX/202X), from https://www.appartement.be/alles-over-de-leegstandsheffing

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• The cadastral income according to legislation
• Glossary – Apartment.com