Two layers of tax, not one
A dividend paid by a foreign company to a Belgian resident is taxed twice, in two different places. The country where the company sits withholds first. Then Belgium applies its own 30% withholding tax — the précompte mobilier / roerende voorheffing — on what is left.
This is separate from the 10% capital gains tax and from the TOB, and it is separate from the Belgian-30%-only picture set out in the companion guide, Dividend withholding tax at 30%, and the reclaimable first tranche. That guide is about dividends inside the Belgian system. This one is about what happens before they reach it — the foreign layer, which most brokers do not settle for you.
United States: 30% by default, 15% with a W-8BEN
US dividends are the clearest case. The default US withholding rate on a dividend paid to a non-resident is 30%.
Under the US–Belgium tax treaty, a Belgian resident holding US shares as an ordinary portfolio investor is entitled to a reduced rate of 15%. The document that claims it is the W-8BEN: a form the broker collects, on which the holder certifies Belgian residence and claims the treaty benefit. With a valid W-8BEN on file, the US withholding agent applies 15% at source instead of 30%.
The difference is not small. On a €1,000 gross US dividend:
- without a W-8BEN: 30% (€300) is withheld in the US, and €700 arrives;
- with a W-8BEN: 15% (€150) is withheld, and €850 arrives.
Brokers that deal with US-listed stock generally ask for a W-8BEN when the account is opened, and it expires and needs renewing periodically. Whether one is on file, and at what rate US dividends are actually being withheld, is legible from the dividend lines on the account statements.
France: a withholding, a treaty cap, and a credit that came back
French dividends follow a different path. France withholds at its domestic rate (commonly 12.8%), and the France–Belgium treaty caps the French share at 15% for a Belgian resident.
What makes France its own story is the Belgian side. For years the Belgian administration refused Belgian investors a credit for the French tax, producing full double taxation. Following repeated court decisions, the administration accepted, in 2025, a foreign-tax credit (the quotité forfaitaire d'impôt étranger / forfaitair gedeelte van de buitenlandse belasting — QFIE/FBB) on French dividends, worth 15%, which relieves part of the Belgian charge.
This is recent, specific to French dividends, and still evolving. It does not generalise to US dividends or to other countries, the exact conditions and the way it is claimed have moved over time, and a future France–Belgium treaty could change it again. It is precisely the kind of point to confirm against a current primary source or an accountant rather than to read off an article — including this one.
The Belgian 30% still sits on top
For most foreign dividends — US ones included — Belgium then applies its 30% to the amount net of the foreign withholding, and no Belgian credit is given for the foreign tax. That is what produces the heavy combined burden Belgian investors notice on US holdings.
Following the €1,000 US example, with a W-8BEN in place:
- €150 withheld in the US, leaving €850;
- Belgian 30% on that €850 is €255;
- roughly €405 of the original €1,000 has gone to tax across the two countries.
The figures above are illustrative of the mechanism, not a computation for any particular holding: the ordering, the base the Belgian rate applies to, and whether any credit is available are exactly the details that differ by country and by year.
What none of this removes: the record your return needs
Whether or not a broker withholds the Belgian 30%, the foreign layer is something the annual return needs documented. For each foreign dividend, the record to keep is:
- the date, the instrument and the gross amount, in its original currency;
- the foreign withholding already deducted at source, and at what rate;
- the Belgian withholding applied, if any;
- for treaty relief — the US 15% or a French credit — the evidence that the foreign tax was actually paid.
As with capital gains, no single broker holds the whole picture, and a dividend that arrived without Belgian withholding is not a dividend without Belgian tax due: it is one where the 30% is settled through the return instead of at source.
The dividend withholding simulator runs the foreign and the Belgian leg of such a dividend one after the other.
Always verify your figures
Belfolio computes and presents these amounts for information only. This is not tax advice. Foreign withholding rates, treaty reliefs and the French credit in particular change and are contested — verify them with the FPS Finance or your accountant before filing.
Published 7 Aug 2026