Should single people pay a reduced rate when it comes to certain taxes? The municipal authorities in Turnhout (Antwerp Province) are currently examining whether this would been a good idea. During the past 15 years the number of single-person households in Flanders has increased by around 20% and this trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. It is forecast that by 2040 almost 1.1 million households in our region with be made up of just 1 person.
Professor Michel Maus of Brussels’ Dutch-medium Free University (VUB) told VRT News that politicians are increasing taking single-person households into consideration when taking policy decisions. However, legal obstacles often stand in the way.
The city authorities in Turnhout are currently looking into whether single-person households should pay a reduced rate when it comes to certain local taxes. Turnhout is not alone, the municipal authorities in the Limburg city of Hasselt and Tienen in Flemish Brabant have already done the same.
The provincial authorities in West Flanders already give single-person households a 50% reduction on what they have to pay the province in tax. Households consisting of several people pay 49 euro/annum, while single-person households pay 24.50 euro/annum.
Professor of fiscal law Michel Maus told VRT News that the debate about whether single-person households should pay the same as households made up of more than one person is ongoing at all levels.
Top of the list when it comes to income tax
Professor Maus added that "No one within the OECD pays more income tax than a single person with no children in Belgium and this has been the case since 2000”.
Meanwhile, a growing number of people are living alone. According to figures from the Flemish Statistics Agency (Statistiek Vlaanderen) there were 805,000 single-person households in 2013. By 2023 this had increased to 971,000.
Professor Maus says that it is a good thing that the fiscal status of single-person households is one of the topics that are currently on the negotiating table at the federal coalition talks.
Is it legal to discriminate in this way?
Of course, this begs the question of whether it is legal to discriminate between single-person and multi-person households.
Professor Maus told VRT News that in order to discriminate in this way a reasonable explanation must be given. “Regarding refuse tax, for example, it is logical that families made up of several people throw away more rubbish that those that live alone. In this case there is reasonable justification for discriminating”.
"Belgians will be Belgians"
Professor Maus recognises that the issue is the source of difficult and at times heated debates. “But what we sometimes forget is that everyone was single once or will become single at some time.
He believes that ideally any measures should benefit people on a low income. The individual situation of a household should be taken into account “but this is tricky from a legal point of view”.
"And also, a Belgians will be Belgians. We have to take into that account not everyone will play fair. If a a couple has two properties, they couple easily have one property each as their official address and both end up benefitting from a reduced rate of tax and this isn’t the aim of measures designed to help single people”.