Belgium Embarkation Tax

Belgium Embarkation Tax (or Taxe sur l’embarquement dans un aéronef / Taks op de inscheping van een luchtvaartuig) is levied on passengers departing on board fixed or rotary-wing aircraft from a Belgium airport. It came into force on 1 April 2022 and it applies to both commercial and non-commercial flights. The competent authority is the Belgium revenue agency, SPF Finance.

What Is Embarkation Tax?

The tax rate depends on the distance of the final destination from the most visited Belgium airport (Brussels airport BRU/EBBR) and whether the final destination is inside or outside of the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland or the UK.

The following tax rates apply as of 1 April 2022:

• 10 € per passenger where the final destination is less than 500 km from BRU/EBBR (e.g. EHAM, EDDF or London airports)
• 2 € per passenger where the final destination is more than 500 km from BRU/EBBR and located inside the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK or Switzerland
• 4 € per passenger where the final destination is outside of the EEA, the UK or Switzerland

Who Is Liable for Embarkation Tax?

Embarkation tax is levied on passengers departing from a Belgium airport on board commercial or non-commercial fixed or rotary-wing aircraft. Several flight and passenger exemptions apply, most notably, infants, active and repositioning flight crew, transit and transfer passengers, circular flights, flights following a forced landing at a Belgium airport due to bad weather, technical reasons or other reasons of force majeure, military, customs, police, humanitarian and emergency medical service flights.

Transit and transfer passengers are only exempt if they meet the following criteria:

• Connecting flights are on the same ticket or part of the same contract
• Belgium airport is primarily used for connecting
• Connecting time is no longer than 24 hours and the passenger remained airside

What Are the Tax Obligations?

As a participating aircraft operator, you must:

• Appoint a fiscal representative, such as FCC Aviation, if you are based outside of the EEA. The appointment is optional for EEA based aircraft operators.
• Register for tax before your first chargeable flight *. The registration is optional if you have only one chargeable flight per calendar year. 
• Declare and pay tax by the last working day of the month following the end of the reporting month **. Nil declarations are not required. Non-registered aircraft operators must declare and pay tax prior to departure.

* Unless you have your first chargeable flight before 20 July 2022 in which case you can even register for tax after your first chargeable flight but no later than 20 July 2022.

** The deadline is extended by 4 months for the reporting periods April, May, June and July 2022. This means, for example, that tax from May shall be declared and paid by the last working day of October 2022.