As the summer holidays approach or have started already, students are looking for or starting summer jobs. Below you find, as a reminder, a brief overview of the legal framework for student employment, applicable as of January 1, 2025.
650-hour quota (per calendar year)
The law of 10 April 2025 related to student work allows students to work up to 650 hours per calendar year, under a beneficial social security regime. This applies retroactively as of January 1, 2025.
As long as the student remains under this annual 650 hours threshold, the employer will only pay a solidarity contribution of 5.42% to the NSSO, and the student will contribute 2.71% of their gross salary. Beyond this threshold (as from the 651st hour), regular social security contributions apply – both for the employer and employee.
Whether a student already reached their quota, can be checked online via ‘Student at Work’. The student has to download an attestation that contains an access code for the employer, who then can verify the hours left within the quota. This avoids surprises when making the Dimona declaration and getting an alert that the quota has been reached.
This quota is however also important when looking at implications on child benefits and income taxes.
Child benefits
Please note that working 650 hours does not impact the entitlement to receive child benefits in any of the Belgian regions (Child benefits is regulated on a regional level). However, specific regional rules may apply regarding the number of hours performed per quarter (e.g. Brussels region). Thus, monitoring is advised in that regard.
Tax implications
Wages perceived from student work within the above mentioned quota are exempt from wage withholding taxes.
A student will however have to file a personal income tax return. Whether in the end income taxes are due depends on whether the total gross taxable income remains below the amount of EUR 15.585,74 (income year 2025).
Additionally, to remain a tax-dependent of their parents, students must not exceed the legal ceiling of net annual means of existence . However a certain amount of student income is not taken into account when calculating that ceiling. With the increase of the quota, the latter amount has been increased to EUR 6,840 (indexed amount for income year 2025).
Key points
Do not forget – conditions to benefit from the student status:
Do you want more information or do you want to know how this applies to foreign students: don’t hesitate to contact us.
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:
Nadja De Bie
Senior Manager
Martijn De Meulemeester
Director
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