Announcing Wintro's referral bonus tax ruling for Belgian companies

We're excited to announce that Wintro has secured a significant tax ruling from FOD Financiën that will transform how Belgian companies can structure their referral bonus programs. This ruling enables companies using Wintro's platform to pay out referral bonuses as miscellaneous income (diverse inkomsten) instead of professional income, resulting in a tax rate of just 33%.

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Why this matters

Traditional referral bonuses are typically classified as professional income and taxed at much higher rates. This has often made companies hesitant to implement generous referral programs, limiting their ability to tap into one of the most valuable recruitment channels.

Previously, each company needed to request their own ruling from FOD Financiën to classify referral bonuses as miscellaneous income - a complex and time-consuming process. Now, all Wintro customers automatically benefit from our ruling, eliminating this administrative burden entirely.

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Benefits for Companies

The ruling provides significant advantages for companies:

• Referral bonuses are 100% tax-deductible as business expenses
• No requirement to create tax forms (fiches) for these bonuses
• Simplified administration and payroll processing
• Automatic compliance when using Wintro's platform

How the ruling works

The key to this ruling lies in how Wintro's platform enables both employees and external individuals to participate in your referral program equally:

• External individuals (like former employees or professional connections) can be invited to participate
• Both employees and external participants follow the same process and conditions
• Because the program isn't limited to employees, the bonuses are no longer considered employment-related income
• As a result, referral bonuses qualify as miscellaneous income, subject to the lower 33% tax rate

What's covered

The ruling provides clear guidelines:

• Applies to both employee and external referrers
• Maximum bonus of €10,000 per successful referral
• Up to two referral bonuses per person per calendar year
• Valid for five years from January 2024, and can be applied retroactively to unpaid referral bonuses for previous hires when companies are Wintro customers at the time of payout

Next steps

This ruling creates a unique opportunity for Belgian companies to implement more effective referral programs while significantly reducing the tax burden on bonus recipients. By using Wintro's platform, you can easily set up a compliant program that takes full advantage of this ruling without any additional administrative work.

Want to learn how your company can implement a tax-efficient referral program? Schedule a demo with our team to discover how Wintro can help you expand your referral network while maximizing benefits for all participants.

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