Belgium Embarkation Tax

Belgium Embarkation Tax (or Taxe sur l’embarquement dans un aéronef / Taks op de inscheping van een luchtvaartuig) is levied on passengers departing on board fixed or rotary-wing aircraft from a Belgium airport. It came into force on 1 April 2022 and it applies to both commercial and non-commercial flights. The competent authority is the Belgium revenue agency, SPF Finance.

What Is Embarkation Tax?

The Belgian Embarkation Tax applies to all passengers departing from a Belgian airport. Until 29 July 2025, the rate depended on distance and whether the destination was within the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, or the UK.

As of 29 July 2025, the structure has changed and the tax no longer depends on whether the destination is within or outside the EEA. Instead:

• €10 per passenger for final destinations less than 500 km from Brussels Airport (BRU/EBBR)
• €5 per passenger for all destinations 500 km or more, regardless of location

Note: Prior to this change, rates were €2 for destinations beyond 500 km inside the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, and €4 for destinations outside those areas.

Who Is Liable for Embarkation Tax?

Embarkation tax is levied on passengers departing from a Belgium airport on board commercial or non-commercial fixed or rotary-wing aircraft. Several flight and passenger exemptions apply, most notably, infants, active and repositioning flight crew, transit and transfer passengers, circular flights, flights following a forced landing at a Belgium airport due to bad weather, technical reasons or other reasons of force majeure, military, customs, police, humanitarian and emergency medical service flights.

Transit and transfer passengers are only exempt if they meet the following criteria:

• Connecting flights are on the same ticket or part of the same contract
• Belgium airport is primarily used for connecting
• Connecting time is no longer than 24 hours and the passenger remained airside

What Are the Tax Obligations?

As a participating aircraft operator, you must:

• Appoint a fiscal representative, such as FCC Aviation, if you are based outside of the EEA. The appointment is optional for EEA based aircraft operators.
• Register for tax before your first chargeable flight. The registration is optional if you have only one chargeable flight per calendar year. 
• Declare and pay tax by the last working day of the month following the end of the reporting month *. Nil declarations are not required. Non-registered aircraft operators must declare and pay tax prior to departure.

* The deadline for reporting passengers subject to the new €5 tax rate is extended by two months, provided those passengers were transported in July, August, or September 2025. For example, the tax return for the period from 29 to 31 July 2025 may be submitted by 31 October 2025, with the related payment due by the same date. Please note that this extension does not apply to passengers subject to the €10 tax rate.