Renting your Brussels flat on Airbnb? Why the tax office now knows — and what the rules really require
Dutch-language daily Het Nieuwsblad reports a wave of Brussels Airbnb hosts giving up after tax audits and heavy fines.
In 30 seconds
- Het Nieuwsblad reports a mass exodus of Brussels Airbnb hosts following tax audits and millions of euros in fines; the exact figures are the paper's reporting and not independently verified here.
- Since 1 January 2023 the EU DAC7 directive requires platforms to report host income to national tax authorities, with data reaching Belgium's FOD Financiën from early 2024.
- Letting tourist accommodation in Brussels requires registration under the region's 2014 ordinance (in force 2016), plus fire-safety, insurance and often urban-planning compliance.
- Airbnb income in Belgium can be split across immovable, movable and sometimes professional income, and the City of Brussels tourist tax does not discharge income-tax duties.
Airbnb and comparable platforms let individuals rent rooms or whole homes to short-stay guests. In the Brussels-Capital Region this activity is regulated by a 2014 regional ordinance requiring registration and safety compliance, and the income is taxable by the federal FOD Financiën / SPF Finances. The EU's DAC7 directive, applied since January 2023, now forces platforms to report host earnings to tax authorities, closing the gap that previously allowed under-declaration. Het Nieuwsblad reports that resulting audits and fines have driven many Brussels hosts out of the market.
Background
Brussels regulated tourist accommodation through a 2014 ordinance that took effect in 2016, requiring hosts to register and meet safety and planning conditions — mirroring moves across European cities from Amsterdam to Barcelona to rein in platform letting. Enforcement long lagged the rules because tax authorities lacked reliable data on who was earning what. The EU's DAC7 reporting regime, applied from 2023, supplied that missing information and made systematic enforcement possible for the first time.
What to do
Anyone letting in Brussels should register with the region, declare all platform income to FOD Financiën on Tax-on-web / MyMinfin, hold the required insurance and fire-safety measures, check commune planning and co-ownership rules, and assume DAC7 data will be cross-checked — all as of July 2026, with specifics to be confirmed via official portals.
The Belgian angle
The story is fundamentally a Brussels-Capital Region matter, touching the City of Brussels, Ixelles, Saint-Gilles and Etterbeek most directly. A significant withdrawal of hosts could ease pressure on the long-term rental market that housing campaigners have long blamed on short-lets, while cutting a stream of tourist accommodation and household income in a high-cost city.
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- 25 Jul 2026
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- 25 Jul 2026
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