Expert Talk Van Havermaet: Make the most of your investments from a tax perspective.

If your company made investments during the 2025 calendar year, you may be entitled to a substantial tax benefit under the revised investment deduction regime. The investment deduction framework was completely reformed for investments made as from 1 January 2025. In previous newsletters, we already explained the basic principles of the reformed investment deduction and provided an overview of the investment lists published in this context.
In this article, we summarise the key elements once again and provide you with the current state of affairs, including practical points of attention to ensure that you do not miss out on the tax deduction.

Basic deduction

The basic deduction amounts to 10% and can be applied by both SMEs and sole proprietors. This deduction can be applied to almost all types of assets, except where these are explicitly excluded due to their negative environmental or climate impact (for example, investments related to pesticides or fossil fuels). If no economic or ecological alternative is available, such investments may still qualify. As a result, investments in fossil fuel-powered trucks remain eligible for the time being.

For investments in digital fixed assets, an increased rate of 20% applies. This includes, among others, investments in security infrastructure and digital payment systems (such as e-invoicing via the Peppol network).

Apart from correctly including the deduction in your corporate income tax return (and completing the designated form 275U), no additional formalities apply.

(Increased) thematic deduction

The thematic deduction amounts to 40% (30% for large enterprises for assessment year 2026) and can be applied by sole proprietors and all types of companies, regardless of their size. The investment must relate to energy efficiency or renewable energy, carbon-free transport, environmentally friendly measures, or digital support, and must be included in one of the four lists established by the legislator.

For a more detailed description of the investments eligible for the thematic deduction per list, we refer to our previous newsletter.

With regard to investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, several additional conditions apply:

• Mandatory execution of a preliminary energy study or audit relating to the investment; and
• For investments made by large companies, the internal rate of return may not exceed 13%.

There is currently still some uncertainty regarding the exact implementation of these conditions. The Federal Public Service Finance and the Regions are currently working together on interpretative notes that should clarify various modalities, such as the content of the energy study or audit and the method for calculating the internal rate of return.

In addition, for these investments, an application for a certificate must in principle be submitted to the competent regional authority within a period of three months after the taxable period. For investments made in 2025, this period has exceptionally been extended to 12 months, as the official application forms are not yet available. However, the final submission deadline remains 30 June 2026. For companies with a financial year ending between 1 April 2026 and 30 June 2026, a minimum period of three months will nevertheless continue to apply.

Although the deadline for submitting certificate applications relating to investments made in 2025 is later than usual, we recommend not postponing the preparation of the application file. The application forms are expected to require extensive technical data and detailed descriptions of the investments. It is therefore advisable to already collect all relevant documentation (invoices, technical data sheets, etc.) so that the file can be submitted fully and on time.

Technology deduction

The technology deduction applies to investments in patents and environmentally friendly R&D projects at a rate of 13.5%.

Environmentally friendly R&D investments concern investments in fixed assets used to promote research and the development of new products and future-oriented technologies without a negative impact on the environment. To qualify for this deduction, the company must, for example, have an R&D department or have received innovation support through, for instance, VLAIO. Certain capitalised R&D (personnel) costs are also eligible for the technology deduction. We are happy to assess together with you which costs can be capitalised in this context.

For environmentally friendly R&D investments, the deduction can also be applied on a spread basis, whereby 20.5% of the annual depreciation of the relevant assets qualifies.

To demonstrate the environmentally friendly nature of the investment, a certificate must be attached to the income tax return. This certificate is issued by the competent government authority. Under the revised regime (as opposed to the previous regime), the certificate must already have been obtained at the time of filing. Consequently, the application process will need to be initiated much earlier, and it is advisable to already start preparing the certificate now. Van Havermaet will of course be happy to assist you in this regard.

Would you like to be sure that you do not miss out on any tax benefits? Our partner Van Havermaet will be pleased to support you in assessing your investments and in the practical handling of the investment deduction.

Would you like more information?
Contact: Gill Ceyssens – Gill.Ceyssens@vanhavermaet.be