Belgium tax: the Belgian crypto speculator investor profile

Within the Belgian tax regime, it is crucial to know your investor profile in order to understand your tax obligations. There are three types of crypto investor profiles in Belgium: the good household manager, the speculator, and the professional. This article focuses exclusively on the tax of the Belgian crypto speculator. Trapped between the other two profiles, this one concerns a large part of the Belgian population.

▶️ What is a speculator from a tax perspective?

In Belgium, there is no specific tax regime for digital assets. The notion of a speculator is derived from the existing tax regimes applicable to traditional finance operations and is found in the Belgian tax code.

It is understood as portfolio management “outside of normal management,” that is, outside of the management by a good household manager.

To caricature, the speculator would be willing to invest significant sums, even those necessary for everyday living, in order to obtain substantial income very quickly. Therefore, the operations carried out are risky, the yields are significant, and the amounts invested can be more substantial than their available savings.

The situation must therefore be approached on a case-by-case basis through a set of indicators that allow for the qualification of the profile:

• What proportion of the wealth is invested and held in cryptocurrency?
• What is the level of income of the taxpayer?
• Are purchase and sale operations common?
• Are more complex operations carried out (margin, futures…)?
• What is the investment horizon?

This list of questions is of course not exhaustive and must be able to adapt to all cases.

The criterion often used in speculation is the duration of asset retention and the number of operations. For cryptocurrencies, buying and then selling a few days later could be considered speculative investment with the sole aim of generating a capital gain.

The difficulty is that the profile determination is often carried out by the taxpayer themselves, with the administration not intervening at this stage. Nevertheless, a document containing a list of 17 questions has been produced by the Service for Advance Rulings of the tax administration to help the taxpayer determine themselves.

To find out if you are considered a speculator, you must therefore analyze yourself or seek the help of a legal professional who can support and advise you. At Waltio, we have developed a questionnaire allowing you to find out which investor profile corresponds to your situation.

▶️ Speculator and complex operations

Certain more complex operations could directly categorize an investor as a speculator.

• Significant part of their wealth: A person who invests more than 30% of their wealth in cryptocurrency could be considered a speculator even if they carry out very few operations;
• Automated tools: the use of bots or trading robots can also be considered as an advanced trading technique with a goal of increased returns;
• Professional world linked to cryptocurrencies: you can be considered a speculator if your professional activity is linked to cryptocurrencies and you are personally an investor.

▶️ What are the tax obligations of the Speculator? What will their crypto tax be?

The speculator will be subject to crypto tax on two types of income:

• Capital gains realized on the sale of cryptocurrency
• Passive income

Declaration of capital gains:

Capital gains realized on taxable operations (crypto -> fiat/goods/services) will be subject to tax. They must be declared as “miscellaneous income” and will be taxed at a flat tax of 30%. Capital losses are deductible for the year and can be carried forward for 5 years.

Declaration of passive income:

Passive income includes earnings from staking, farming, play-to-earn, etc.

These incomes are taxable when they are received in the wallet, regardless of a potential resale. The taxable event is therefore the receipt/perception in your wallet. They must be declared as “movable income” and will be subject to a specific flat tax of 33%.

Do you want to declare your crypto income in Belgium? The first crypto tax accounting software in Belgium and number one in France, Waltio supports holders of digital assets in their procedures by offering personal support adapted to their situations. To benefit from our services or for any information requests, you can visit our site or send us your specific requests by email at support@waltio.co.

Disclaimer: Our tool and our team are committed to assisting you in fulfilling your tax obligations to the best of our ability, Waltio does not provide financial advice.