Starting a business in Belgium as a foreigner

Are you ready to start your activities in Belgium? Liantis can help you get started, hassle-free! Liantis offers a one-stop shop where you can get all the required formalities done easily.

Start your business

Are you planning to start a business in Belgium as a foreigner? Liantis guides you through the steps you need to take!

How can we help?

If there is anything that is not clear or you have any other questions, we'll be happy to help you.

Starting in Belgium - from A to Z

Are you starting a company in Belgium and have a registered office or address in Belgium? Then your company will be treated as a Belgian company.

If you are going to start a trading company, you may - depending on the region – have to demonstrate your knowledge of business management and possibly your professional competence too. Non-trading companies often follow their own professional regulations*. Liantis is very happy to help you get started in Belgium and to answer all your business questions.

* As of 1 November 2018, the distinction between trader and non-trader is no longer explicitly recorded in Belgium's business register, the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises.

Before you start: professional card

You are not a European Union national? Then you probably need a foreigners' professional card before you can carry out independent activities. Besides EU nationals, citizens from Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are exempt from the need to have a professional card. You may also be exempt for other reasons, if you are married to an EU national, for example, or you are starting as a co-working partner.

You can apply for a professional card at the Belgian diplomatic post or consulate in the country in which you permanently reside. If you are already legally resident in Belgium, then you can apply through the Liantis one-stop shop if you open a business unit in the Brussels-Capital or Walloon Region. If you open a business unit in Flanders, you can submit your application through the one-stop shop of the Department of Work and Social Economy.

How much does it cost?

There are a number of costs associated with starting a business in Belgium, such as opening a current account. But incorporating your company is perhaps the biggest cost.

How long will it take me to get started?

How quickly you can start depends on precisely what you need to start up in Belgium. It takes more than a month to get a professional card or incorporate a company, but you can do other things much more quickly, such as registering at the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises.

Which start-up scenario applies to you?

Are you starting up in Belgium as a self-employed person (natural person), with or without a business unit, or as a company? Different scenarios are possible …

You are starting in Belgium as a self-employed person, without a business unit

As a self-employed person in Belgium, you should:

• open a current account;
• complete the required formalities via Liantis: if you need authorisation through the one-stop shop, i.e. if you have to prove your entrepreneurial skills in the Walloon or Brussels-Capital Region or you are starting to operate as an itinerant trader (in all three regions): register at Belgium's Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, research other requirements (business management and professional competence), join a social security fund, and apply for any licences or permits you might need;
• register with Limosa if you are coming to work in Belgium either temporarily or part time;
• get in touch with the Centre for Specific Matters in Brussels, to find out whether you have VAT obligations in Belgium; their contact details are: foreigners.team1@minfin.fed.be en tel. +32 2 575 57 57.

You are starting in Belgium as a self-employed person, with a business unit

If you start working as self-employed in Belgium, as a natural person with a business unit, you should:

• open a current account.
• complete the required formalities via Liantis' one-stop shop: register with Belgium's Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, research other requirements (business management and professional competence), join a social security fund, and apply for licences and VAT status.

You are setting up a company in Belgium (= Belgian company)

If you are setting up a company in Belgium, you need a current account.

Furthermore, for most types of company you have to go to a notary to officially incorporate it. You can easily complete the required formalities via Liantis' one-stop shop, including:

• registering at Belgium's Crossroads Bank for Enterprises
• researching other requirements (business management and professional competence)
• joining a social security fund.

We can also help you with other formalities, such as activating your VAT number and applying for licences.