Following on from the Easter Agreement, a permanent social regularisation mechanism will come into force on 1 July 2025, specifically targeting self-employed workers. This system is based on the well-known model of the one-off tax discharge statement (later abbreviated into DLU) in full discharge of tax liability applied in tax matters, and is part of a wider drive for transparency and voluntary compliance.
The aim is clear: to offer the self-employed the opportunity to regularise unpaid social security contributions, without incurring additional criminal or administrative penalties. This is a structuring mechanism that is both incentive-based and pragmatic, encouraging the voluntary rectification of irregular situations.
The mechanism is based on the payment of an additional social security contribution of 20% on the professional income concerned. In return, the self-employed person receives an official social regularisation certificate, which is valid before any administration, court or public authority.
The adjustment only concerns contributions that are still legally due, i.e. those that are not time-barred within five years. Social security debts that are overdue (contributions that have become statute-barred) are not covered by this scheme.
Two important exclusions are provided for:
Proceedings in progress: if an authority has already informed the taxpayer in writing of the existence of an investigation or proceedings, regularisation will no longer be possible.
Repetition: only one social regularisation is authorised per person. Any request submitted after a previous regularisation will be inadmissible.
The same 1 July 2025 will also see the introduction of the fifth version of the DLU (DLU 5), enabling undeclared income or assets to be regularised for tax purposes. This DLU 5 will introduce:
Stricter conditions of access than in previous editions.
An increase in regularisation rates of around 5 percentage points compared with the DLU ending in 2023.
This dual system – social and fiscal – marks a major shift towards controlled voluntary compliance. It enables the self-employed to put their social and tax affairs in order, within a non-punitive framework, while guaranteeing additional revenue for the State.
This reform represents a window of opportunity that should not be overlooked by self-employed people wishing to regularise their situation under fiscally and socially regulated conditions. The combination of social regularisation and DLU 5 reflects a clear political will: to clean up Belgium’s social and fiscal landscape by relying on individual responsibility rather than systematic penalties.
Our mission in the field of corporate taxation is to help you manage a reasonable tax burden that aligns with your income and the opportunities provided by tax legislation.
