Property selling costs in Brussels, seller taxation in Belgium, capital gains tax on property: the complete guide to selling with confidence in the south of the capital.
Selling a property in Uccle, Ixelles, Watermael-Boitsfort, or Auderghem? You’ve probably heard about the well-known 12.5% registration duties in Brussels, compared to 3% in Wallonia for a first purchase. Many owners wrongly conclude that this charge also falls on them. The reality is different — and rather good news. Let’s clarify exactly what you, as a seller, actually have to pay in 2026.
Who actually pays the registration duties in Brussels?
Let’s start by clearing up a common point of confusion: registration duties, set at 12.5% of the purchase price in the Brussels Region, are paid by the buyer, not the seller. The buyer pays them to the notary when the deed is signed, with a possible reduction on the first €200,000, and no reduction available above €600,000.
Why does this matter to you as a seller? Because this charge directly affects your potential buyers’ budgets, and therefore their capacity to make you an offer. A buyer targeting a total budget of €450,000 needs to factor in roughly €45,000 to €56,000 in registration duties as part of their financing plan. Understanding this mechanism helps you better gauge a buyer’s seriousness and room for negotiation — a topic we already touched on when discussing the exodus of certain buyers toward Wallonia (12.5% vs. 3%). This article completes the picture: here’s your own bill, as the seller.
The costs actually charged to you as the seller
Contrary to popular belief, the seller’s bill is significantly lighter than the buyer’s. It generally comes down to the following items:
Mandatory certificates
- Energy performance certificate (PEB/EPC): roughly €150 to €400
- Electrical installation inspection if it’s over 25 years old: roughly €150 to €250
- Soil certificate and planning information from the local municipality (commune)
Mortgage release (“mainlevée d’hypothèque”), if a loan is still registered against the property. The notary must release the mortgage inscription taken by the bank at the time of your own purchase. In practice, expect between €800 and €1,200, sometimes more depending on the original loan amount, even if the remaining balance is small. This is a cost many sellers discover late in the process — better to anticipate it before setting your asking price.
Additional notarial administrative fees related to cadastral, mortgage, and planning searches needed to draw up the deed.
Agency commission, if you work with a professional — typically between 2% and 5% including VAT of the sale price, often decreasing above €200,000, and due only when the deed is signed if the sale goes through.
In short: no registration duties, no major acquisition-related notary fees on your side. Your total bill, in the vast majority of cases, stays under €2,000, excluding agency commission.
Capital gains tax on property: when does it actually apply?
This is the least understood point — and yet the most important one to check before signing a preliminary sale agreement (compromis de vente). In Belgium, a 16.5% tax can apply to the capital gain realized when reselling a property, but only under specific conditions.
The time-frame condition. This tax only concerns properties resold within 5 years of their acquisition. Beyond that period, any capital gain on resale is entirely exempt from this tax.
Main residence exemption. If the property sold was your main residence and you actually lived there for at least 12 months, you’re exempt regardless of how long you held it. This covers the vast majority of individual sellers in the south of Brussels.
How the taxable base is calculated, for cases where the tax does apply (a second home, a rental property, or a building plot resold quickly): the gross capital gain is the difference between the net resale price (after deducting costs like agency commission or the EPC certificate) and the adjusted acquisition price. This acquisition price is itself increased by a flat 25% to cover purchase costs, then increased by a further 5% per full year of ownership to account for renovations and inflation.
A concrete example: an apartment bought for €220,000 and resold for €280,000 a little over 3 years later shows an apparent gross gain of €60,000. But once the purchase price is increased by 25% and then by 5% per year of ownership, the deductible base often exceeds the net resale price — which, in practice, frequently cancels out any tax owed, even on resales that look like a tidy profit on paper.
Worth noting: a new 10% tax on capital gains from financial assets (shares, cryptocurrencies, funds) took effect in January 2026. It does not change in any way the tax regime applicable to property resale, which remains governed by the rules described above.
Key takeaways to prepare your sale
- You don’t pay the registration duties — that charge falls on the buyer, but it shapes their budget and therefore their room to negotiate.
- Your actual bill is generally limited to mandatory certificates, a possible mortgage release, and agency commission.
- The capital gains tax only concerns you, in the vast majority of cases, if you’re reselling a second home or rental property within 5 years of purchase — and even then, the flat-rate calculation method often significantly reduces, or entirely cancels out, the taxable base.
- Plan for the mortgage release early in the selling process: ask your notary for a detailed statement to avoid any unpleasant surprise on signing day.
Selling in Uccle, Ixelles, or Watermael-Boitsfort involves specific tax considerations depending on whether the property sold was your main residence, a rental investment, or an inheritance. Every situation deserves a case-by-case review.
Have questions about the tax treatment of your own sale? Feel free to get in touch for a personalized review of your situation.
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