If your company made investments during the 2025 calendar year, you may be entitled to a significant tax advantage through the renewed investment deduction. This framework has been completely reformed for investments made as of 1 January 2025. In previous newsletters, we outlined the basic principles of the reformed investment deduction and provided an overview of the investment lists published in this context.

In this newsletter, we recap the key elements once again and provide the latest updates, including practical points of attention to ensure your company does not miss out on the tax deduction. We are of course happy to assist you in identifying eligible investments and completing the necessary formalities.

Basic deduction

The basic investment deduction amounts to 10% and can be applied by both SMEs and sole proprietorships. It applies to almost all types of assets, except for those explicitly excluded due to their negative environmental or climate impact (for example, investments related to pesticides or fossil fuels). In cases where no economic or ecological alternative exists, such investments may still qualify. For instance, investments in fossil fuel-powered trucks remain eligible for now.

For investments in digital fixed assets, a higher rate of 20% applies. This includes investments in security infrastructure and digital payment systems (e.g., e-invoicing via the Peppol network).

No additional formalities are required beyond correctly recording the deduction in your corporate tax return and filing the prescribed Form 275U.

(Enhanced) thematic deduction

The thematic deduction amounts to 40% (30% for large companies for investments relating to assessment year 2026) and can be applied by sole proprietorships and all types of companies, regardless of size. The investment must relate to efficient energy use or renewable energy, zero-emission transport, environmentally friendly measures or digital support, and must be included in one of the four investment lists as defined by law.

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

With regard to investments in efficient energy use and renewable energy, a few additional conditions apply:

• A mandatory preliminary energy study or audit related to the investment; and
• For large companies, an internal rate of return not exceeding 13%.

At this stage, certain aspects of the application of these conditions remain unclear. The Federal Public Service Finance and the regional authorities are working on interpretative notes to clarify key modalities, including the content of the energy study or audit and the methodology for determining the internal rate of return.

In addition, for these investments, a certificate application generally must be submitted to the relevant regional authority within three months after the taxable period. For investments made in 2025, this period has been exceptionally extended to 12 months because the official application forms are not yet available. However, the final submission deadline is limited to 30 June 2026. For companies with a financial year ending between 1 April 2026 and 30 June 2026, a minimum three-month period still applies.

Despite the later-than-usual deadline for certificate applications relating to 2025 investments, early preparation of the application file is strongly recommended. Given the expected level of technical detail and investment descriptions required in the application forms, applicants are advised to start compiling all relevant supporting documentation (including invoices and technical documentation) without delay.

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 involve fixed assets used to promote research and the development of new products and future-oriented technologies without a negative environmental impact. To qualify for this deduction, the company should, for example, have an R&D department or have received innovation support from organisations such as VLAIO. Certain capitalised R&D (staff) costs may also qualify for the technology deduction. We will gladly assist you in identifying which costs may be eligible for capitalization 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 to qualify.

A certificate confirming the environmentally friendly nature of the investment must be attached to your corporate tax return. Under the renewed regime, the certificate must be obtained before filing, meaning the application process should start well in advance. We recommend beginning preparations now, and Van Havermaet will of course be happy to guide you through the process.

To make sure you do not miss out on valuable tax opportunities, we can assist in reviewing your investments and managing the administrative process for the investment deduction. Contact us today to arrange a non-binding consultation.

Need more info? Contact

Gill Ceyssens

E: gill.ceyssens@vanhavermaet.be