Fiscal statistics 2022: the total net taxable income of all inhabitants is nearly €255 billion

In 2023, 9.5 million residents of Belgium declared their income from 2022. The total net taxable income is nearly €255 billion. On this amount, €59 billion of tax were paid. This is what emerged from the new fiscal statistics of Statbel, the Belgian statistical office.

A total of 7,275,846 tax returns were submitted, including 5,052,337 individual and 2,223,509 joint returns. All in all, 9,499,355 persons submitted tax returns. The total net taxable income of these persons is nearly €255 billion (€254,676,934,997). A total of just over €59 billion (€59,084,273,113) in taxes was paid on this amount.

The total net taxable income of the Belgian population in 2022 was nearly €255 billion. This is the amount on which tax is levied. It consists of all gross taxable income minus deductible expenses. However, for 6.9% of all returns, that taxable income was zero. That does not mean that these individuals had no income, but rather that after deducting expenses and other allowances, they ended up with a zero or negative balance, receive only non-taxable income (e.g. integration income) or do not have to pay tax to the Belgian state (e.g. officials of the European institutions, tax-exempt doctoral grantholders).

The municipality with the highest average net taxable income per capita is Sint-Martens-Latem in East Flanders, with €32,962 per inhabitant. However, that does not mean that this is the richest municipality. These fiscal statistics are limited to taxable income; non-taxable income are not taken into account. Moreover, taxes themselves have not yet been deducted from this income, while this the case in disposable income statistics: they include taxable and non-taxable income, and take into account taxes paid so that we get a view of the income that can actually be spent. Figures on income and poverty at municipal level are available there.