Gifting a property in Belgium: gift tax by Region

Which Region’s rules apply

For a gift made by a resident of the Kingdom, the tax is due in the Region where the donor is domiciled at the time of the gift. So it is not the Region where the property is located. If the donor has had their tax domicile in several places during the previous 5 years, the place where they had it longest is used (Bruxelles Fiscalité fact sheet).

Notaire.be gives the same rule: the donor’s tax domicile determines the applicable scale. If the donor does not live in Belgium, the tax is due in the Region where the building is located.

The scale in Brussels and Wallonia

The tax is calculated on the market value of the property received by each recipient. Here is the scale published by Bruxelles Fiscalité (the Brussels tax administration) in its 2026 fact sheet (updated on 4 September 2025). Notaire.be publishes the same bands and states that the rates are identical in the three Regions.

In the direct line, between spouses and between legal cohabitants

Between all other persons

Each rate only applies to its own band. An example calculated with these bands, for a gift of €250,000:

• in the direct line: 150,000 × 3% + 100,000 × 9% = 4,500 + 9,000 = €13,500;
• to another person: 150,000 × 10% + 100,000 × 20% = 15,000 + 20,000 = €35,000.

Cohabitants

According to notaire.be, the direct-line rates apply in Wallonia to legal cohabitants only. In Brussels and Flanders, they also extend to de facto cohabitants who can prove at least one year of uninterrupted cohabitation.

Large families

In Brussels, a reduction exists when the recipient has at least three children under 21 at the time of the gift. It is 2% per child (4% if the recipient is the spouse or cohabitant), capped at €62 per child (€124 for the spouse or cohabitant). This rule comes from the Brussels fact sheet. Ask the notary about the rules of the other Regions.

Flanders in one sentence

According to notaire.be, the same bands apply in Flanders; what counts is the donor’s domicile, and the Flemish scale in force can be read on vlaanderen.be or obtained from the notary.

The Walloon cut in 2028

The Walloon decree of 5 December 2024 reduces the maximum rates of gift tax on property from 1 January 2028 (wallonie.be):

• in the direct line, between spouses and between legal cohabitants: from 27% to 14%;
• for all other persons: from 40% to 20%.

The bands of this future scale are not included in the pages we read. They are set out in the table annexed to the decree, which wallonie.be says to consult. Until the end of 2027, the scale above applies.

The notary is compulsory

A person who gives away a building located in Belgium must go through a notarial deed (acte authentique), which is then registered. Notaire.be puts it bluntly: for a building, the notary cannot be bypassed, and it is impossible to make the gift yourself.

The notary registers the deed, but it is the recipient who pays the tax. The time limit for registering a notarial deed is 15 days (Bruxelles Fiscalité fact sheet). The notary also explains the effects of the deed: it is in principle final, because you cannot take back what you have given, except in cases provided for by law.

Giving while keeping the usufruct

You can give the bare ownership (nue-propriété) and keep the usufruct (usufruit). The donor continues to live in the property or to let it. They pay for routine upkeep. Notaire.be presents this arrangement as a way of giving with more safeguards.

On the tax side, the Brussels fact sheet states that, in this case, the taxable base is the market value of the full ownership. Keeping the usufruct therefore does not reduce gift tax. If the donor does not keep the usufruct, the base is the value of the full ownership less that of the usufruct, calculated according to the person’s age.

Successive gifts: the 3-year period

If the same persons make a new gift of a building to each other within 3 years of the previous one, the taxable base adds the two together (Bruxelles Fiscalité fact sheet). Notaire.be speaks of counters reset to zero every 3 years. Spreading gifts out therefore has an effect on the progressive scale, but only if this period is respected.

If the donor dies after the gift

This is where the Regions differ, according to notaire.be:

• Wallonia: if the donor dies within 3 years, the property given is notionally added to their estate to set the applicable rate. It is not taxed as an inheritance.
• Brussels: this rule was abolished for all gifts of buildings made from 1 January 2016. Death within 3 years no longer changes anything.
• Flanders: the pages read do not deal with this point.

Bruxelles Fiscalité also reports a period that goes from 3 to 5 years, but for unregistered gifts of movable property made after 1 January 2026. This period does not concern buildings.

Which professional to consult

The notary handling your file calculates the tax, checks the competent Region, drafts the deed and has it registered. They can also compare a gift with a bequest for your situation: notaire.be points out, for example, that the family home is fully exempt from inheritance tax (droits de succession / erfbelasting) for the surviving spouse or legal cohabitant.