Surviving spouses or legal cohabitants receive a full exemption on their net share of the immovable property:

• that was the deceased person’s main residence and
• in which the deceased person lived for at least the five years preceding the date of his or her death.

The net share is excluded from the tax base.

Conditions

• These persons must be the surviving spouse or legal cohabitant, irrespective of their degree of blood relationship with the deceased person.
• The deceased person can be a resident (inheritance tax) or a non-resident (duty on the transfer of property mortis causa).
• The immovable property must be located in the Walloon Region.
• An extract from the population register or the register of foreign nationals can be provided as proof of the main residence, unless otherwise indicated.
• This can be the last common residence of the spouses or legal cohabitants if they ceased to cohabit as a result of separation or force majeure or for compelling medical, family, social or professional reasons.

How do I apply?

The full exemption is usually granted automatically, but you must apply for it expressly in the declaration of estate if you ceased to cohabit as a result of separation or for compelling reasons. In that case, you must provide proof of the force majeure or compelling reasons.

A reduced rate applies to the net share of lineal heirs in the family home.

Part of the net share in EUR		Percentage per bracket	Total tax from previous brackets
from	to
0.01	25 000	1 %
25 000.01	50 000	2 %	EUR 250
50 000.01	175 000	5 %	EUR 750
175 000.01	250 000	12 %	EUR 7 000
250 000.01	500 000	24 %	EUR 16 000
over 500 000		30 %	EUR 76 000

How do I apply?

You must apply for the reduced rate expressly in the declaration of estate.

Reduction

The first EUR 12 500 of the net share of spouses, legal cohabitants or lineal heirs in the estate is exempt from tax.

If the net share is EUR 125 000 or less, they receive an additional exemption of EUR 12 500 in the second bracket, amounting to a total exemption of EUR 25 000.

Additional reduction for children under the age of 21

Children of the deceased person who are under the age of 21 receive an additional exemption of EUR 2 500 for each full year remaining until they are 21.

In addition to this, the spouse or legal cohabitant receives half of the additional exemption paid to all of the common children together.

Heirs with at least three living children under the age of 21 at the time of the deceased person's death receive a 2 % reduction in inheritance tax for each of those children, up to a maximum of EUR 62 per child.

The deceased person's partner receives a 4 % reduction for each child under 21, up to a maximum of EUR 124 per child.

If the inherited property is included in the estate of one or more other deceased persons within a year of the deceased person’s death, the inheritance tax due on it is halved.

However, the amount of the reduction must not exceed the inheritance tax levied on the previous estate.

There is an exemption from inheritance tax for legacies (testamentary gifts) to:

• the Walloon Region;
• the French Community, the Brussels Capital Region, the Brussels Agglomeration; the Common, French and Flemish Community Commissions; the German-Speaking Community, the Flemish Region and the Flemish Community;
• entities comparable to the above, that were established under, and are subject to, the laws of another Member State of the European Economic Area;
• a Federal State and a Member State of the European Economic Area;
• legal entities established by the above entities.

There is a reduced rate of 5.5 % for legacies to:

• the provinces;
• the municipalities;
• provincial and municipal public bodies;
• inter-communal associations;
• autonomous municipal companies;
• legal entities of another Member State of the European Economic Area comparable to the entities listed above;
• companies recognised by the ‘Société wallonne du Logement’ (Waalse Huisvestingsmaatschappij) [Walloon Housing Company];
• the ‘Fonds du Logement des Familles nombreuses de Wallonie’ (Woningfonds van de Kroostrijke Gezinnen van Wallonië) [The Walloon Social Housing Fund];
• the social entities referred to in Article 191 of the Walloon Housing Code, which are recognised by the Walloon Government as social housing agencies, social community networks or associations for the promotion of housing.

There is a reduced rate of 7 % for legacies to:

• national and international not-for-profit organisations;
• friendly societies or national unions of friendly societies;
• professional associations;
• private foundations
• public-interest foundations.

There is an exemption from inheritance tax for immovable property in Natura 2000 areas. These are valuable nature conservation areas which are listed in the Belgian Official Gazette.

Under certain circumstances, the tax can be reduced for immovable property in an area that is eligible for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network and subject to the primary protection regime.

Additional exemptions can also be granted for:

• the value of the trees growing in the forests and woods specified in the Forestry Code and
• the value of the shares and equivalent interests of a forest management group referred to in the Law of 6 May 1999 promoting the establishment of civil forest management group companies.

How do I apply?

You must apply for the exemption in the declaration of estate. You should contact your notary or a Legal Security Office (Kantoor Rechtszekerheid | Bureau Sécurité juridique | Amt Rechtssicherheit) to obtain specific information about the process.

There is a EUR 250 000 exemption from inheritance tax for death caused by an extraordinary act of violence.

An extraordinary act of violence is defined as ‘any intentional act of violence committed by a single person or a group of persons, which caused a feeling of fear and insecurity among the general public on account both of the violence itself and the seriousness of its consequences, and of the attack on the physical and/or moral integrity of the members of the public present when the act was committed.’

Who is eligible?

• spouses or legal cohabitants;
• lineal heirs;
• collateral heirs up to the second degree;
• heirs who are blood relatives in the direct line of descent up to the first degree and in the collateral line up to the second degree.

How do I apply?

Attach a certificate from the ‘Direction générale opérationnelle Fiscalité’ (Operationeel Directoraat-generaal Fiscaliteit) [Operational Directorate General for Tax] of the Walloon Administration, confirming that the deceased person died as a result of an extraordinary act of violence, to the declaration of estate.

You can contact the Walloon Tax Administration for more information about the certificate.

Heirs who inherit the ownership or usufruct of protected monuments may obtain an inheritance tax exemption. An amount equivalent to the exemption must be invested in the monument.

Who is eligible?

• spouses or legal cohabitants;
• lineal heirs;
• collateral heirs up to the third degree.

What are the conditions?

• You must invest an amount equal to the inheritance tax exemption in maintenance, surveys and renovation of the protected monument within ten years of the date of the deceased person’s death.
• Once you have completed the investments, you must obtain a certificate from the Walloon Government confirming that the amount of the investments was at least equal to the amount of the inheritance tax exemption.
• All of the heirs must retain their right of ownership or usufruct over the monument until the certificate has been obtained. However, the exemption will still apply if the ownership or usufruct changes as a result of a death or a transfer between spouses, legal cohabitants, lineal relatives or collateral relatives up to the third degree.

Important: if this condition is not met, all of the heirs who received the exemption must pay inheritance tax, unless this was a result of force majeure or for compelling administrative reasons.

How do I apply?

• Apply for the exemption in the declaration of estate (it is not automatic).
• State the date and the decision by which the immovable property was protected and attach a copy of the decision.
• Attach a list of the investments required to the declaration. You can obtain the list from the Walloon Government (please note: the Walloon Government needs at least 45 days to provide the list).

In some cases and under certain conditions, inheritance tax on the net share of a business can be reduced to 0 %, if the succession or the matrimonial property regime contains a right in rem resulting from the death.

To obtain information about your specific situation, you should contact your notary or a Legal Security Office (Kantoor Rechtszekerheid | Bureau Sécurité juridique | Amt Rechtssicherheit).

Inheritance tax on undeveloped immovable property in the Walloon Region with a long-term or career-long lease can be reduced under certain circumstances.

Long-term lease

The reduction is:

• 55 % on the first 4 hectares;
• 30 % on the remaining hectares.

Career-long lease

The reduction is:

• 75 % on the first 4 hectares;
• 50 % on the remaining hectares.

The reduction is 10 % lower if the lessee was over 35 years of age when the lease was entered into.

The lease must be:

• reported to the ‘Observatoire foncier’ (Grondwaarnemingscentrum) [Land Survey Centre] and
• entered into by an official document in accordance with the rules governing leases in the Civil Code.