Mortgage interest deduction in Belgium: what still applies in 2026

The mortgage interest deduction as many people know it no longer exists in Belgium. If you take out a mortgage today, you get no tax benefit for it in any region. If you borrowed earlier, you may still get a regional tax reduction under certain conditions. This article explains what still applies in 2026, region by region.

The rules and amounts come from the Federal Public Service Finance (the explanatory notes to the tax return for tax year 2026 and its regional FAQs of May 2026), the Walloon government and Wikifin, checked in September 2026. The region where you live decides which scheme applies to you. Have your own situation checked by a tax adviser or your bank.

Loans from 1 January 2025: no tax benefit

According to the Federal Public Service Finance, there is no longer any tax benefit for mortgage loans taken out from 1 January 2025. That applies in Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia. The only exception is a refinancing loan, for the part that refinances an older loan which itself gave a benefit.

Today the tax advantage of buying your own home lies in the registration duty: 2% in Flanders and 3% in Wallonia for your only own home, and in Brussels no duty on the first €200,000 if the price is no more than €600,000. More detail in our guide to registration duties.

Not a deduction, but a tax reduction

Since 2015 the benefits for your own home have been the responsibility of the regions. They are no longer a deduction from your taxable income, but a reduction of the tax itself. You add up the interest, capital repayments and linked life insurance premiums you paid in the year, that amount is capped at a yearly maximum, and the region lowers your tax on that basis.

Flanders

For loans taken out from 1 January 2020 there is no Flemish tax benefit for your own home. The date of the notarial loan deed is what counts.

For loans taken out from 2016 to 2019, the integrated housing bonus (geïntegreerde woonbonus) applies. The loan must run for at least 10 years, be taken out with a lender in the European Economic Area and be used to buy or keep your own home. The tax reduction is 40% of the amounts paid, within a yearly maximum per person:

• €1,520 as the base amount for tax year 2026;
• €2,280 if the property was still your only home on 31 December 2025, during the first 10 tax periods;
• €2,360 if you also had at least 3 dependent children.

So the benefit is at most €944 per person. If you own a second home on 31 December, the increases above €1,520 are lost, and that loss is permanent.

For loans taken out from 2005 to 2015, the earlier Flemish housing bonus still applies, with a maximum of €2,280 for loans from before 2015 and €1,520 for loans from 2015.

Brussels

Brussels abolished the housing bonus for loans taken out from 1 January 2017. It was replaced by a larger exemption from registration duty. If you received that exemption for a purchase from 2017, you are not entitled to a benefit for the loan.

Loans taken out from 2005 to 2016 keep the regional housing bonus. For tax year 2026 the maximum is €3,010 per person. For loans from 2016 only, it rises to €4,010 if the property was still your only home on 31 December 2025, and to €4,110 with at least 3 dependent children.

Wallonia

For loans taken out from 2016 to 2024 to buy full ownership of your only home, the chèque habitat applies. It is not a percentage of your interest, but a fixed amount that depends on your income and dependent children. It is a tax reduction that can be converted into a tax credit, so you receive it even if you pay little tax.

• At most €1,520 for net taxable income up to €27,353 (tax year 2026). Above that, the amount falls by 1.275% of the part above €27,353.
• Plus €125 per dependent child.
• No chèque habitat with income of €105,503 or more.
• Never more than what you actually paid that year in interest, capital and premium.

The chèque habitat runs for at most 20 years: in full for the first 10 years, then at half. Loans taken out from 1 January 2025 no longer qualify, and if you received the reduced 3% registration duty when you bought, you are not entitled to the chèque habitat for that home. For loans from 2005 to 2015 the Walloon housing bonus applies, with a maximum of €2,290 for tax year 2026.

A second home or rental property

For a loan on a home that is not your own home, a federal interest deduction existed up to tax year 2025. The law of 18 December 2025 abolished it from tax year 2026 (income 2025), including for existing loans. Only the capital repayments on loans taken out by the end of 2023 can still qualify, within limits, for the federal reduction for long-term savings. More in our article on investment property taxes.

When do you lose the benefit?

• Whether a property is your own home is assessed at the time of each payment. If it is your own home for only part of the year, only the payments in that period count.
• If you do not live there for reasons of a social nature, the property can still count as your own home.
• If you sell the home and the loan continues, there is no longer a regional benefit. The interest then gives you nothing.
• In Wallonia the chèque habitat is halved if the property does not remain your only home during the first 10 years, and suspended if you are no longer the owner.
• A new loan to buy out a former partner gives no benefit: in Flanders if it is taken out from 2020, and in any region if it is taken out from 2025. See also our article on splitting a mortgage.

Refinancing

If you refinance an older loan, the benefit only continues for the part that repays the outstanding balance. Anything you borrow on top is a new loan and gives no benefit. The old and new loan together must run for at least 10 years. In Brussels, refinancing a loan taken out from 2017 never gives a benefit. In Flanders, the 10-year period for the higher amounts does not start again.

Mortgage protection insurance

Premiums for an individual life insurance that secures the loan fall under the same benefit and the same yearly maximum. For loans that no longer give a benefit, the same goes for the insurance. If you have had a tax reduction on the premiums even once, the payout will later be taxed.

What this means if you buy or sell

If you buy today, do not count on a tax benefit for your loan: the tax advantage is in the registration duty. If you sell a home with an older loan that still gave a benefit, that benefit ends for that home. To find out what your property is worth today, ask for a free valuation, or compare up to 3 estate agents in your area.