Neobank savings tax in Belgium: what must you declare?

A rate advertised at 3% is a gross rate. In Belgium, neobank interest hands 30% to the tax authority from the first euro, without the exemption reserved for Belgian savings accounts. What's left to work out is who pays that tax: the neobank, or you. Both cases exist, and the confusion costs money every spring.

Do you have to declare neobank interest in Belgium?

It depends on the neobank. If it withholds the 30% at source, the tax is already paid and you have nothing to report: that's the case with Revolut on its Belgian savings account. If it withholds nothing — Trade Republic, N26, bunq — the interest must be declared yourself in box VII of your return.

This is the question I see most often, and the "it depends" answer annoys everyone. It's still the only accurate one. Many people assume their bank handles everything, because that's true at KBC or Belfius. A friend insisted last year that his Trade Republic account was "like a savings account, it's deducted automatically". It wasn't. He declared two years of interest in one go.

What is the withholding tax on a neobank account?

The withholding tax (précompte mobilier) is the Belgian tax on savings and investment income. On neobank accounts it stands at 30% from the first euro of interest. These accounts aren't regulated savings accounts under Belgian law: no exemption, no reduced rate.

That distinction is the whole key to the subject. A regulated Belgian savings account ticks precise criteria set by the legislator: a base rate plus a loyalty premium, with framed withdrawal conditions. In exchange, its first €1,020 of interest per person per year is tax-exempt, and the excess is taxed at only 15%. That cap is frozen at €1,020 until 2030 income under the 2025 programme law.

Neobank savings accounts pay a single rate with no loyalty premium. Technically, they fall into the catch-all category of other investment income: 30%, like a term account or a dividend. In practice, for everyday use: a 3% rate at a neobank only beats a Belgian savings account at 1.5% once it has absorbed that tax gap.

Which neobanks withhold the tax at source?

Only one of the four big names does it today on savings: Revolut. Since the launch of its daily-interest savings account in August 2025, it operates through its Belgian branch and deducts the 30% before crediting your account. Trade Republic, N26 and bunq pay gross: it's on you to declare.

The mechanism isn't magic. An institution with a Belgian presence can act as the party liable for the withholding tax and pay it to the authorities on your behalf. Revolut made that choice when it launched its savings account here, which makes it, on this specific point, the simplest of the four. The others operate from Germany or the Netherlands without that relay: they have no obligation to withhold Belgian tax, and they don't.

Here's the situation as of summer 2026. Statuses change — Revolut changed its own along the way — so always check your annual statement before filling anything in.

How do you declare interest from a foreign neobank?

You report the gross amount of interest received over the year in box VII, section A.2 'Income that must be declared', line 'Other income without withholding tax'. The codes are 1444-11 for the filer and 2444-78 for the spouse or legal cohabitant. The tax authority then calculates the 30%.

The figure to report sits in the annual tax statement inside the app. Trade Republic, N26 and bunq make a document available early in the year, downloadable in the account settings. It's the total interest credited over the calendar year, not the account balance, and not the capital gain on an investment — those go in other boxes.

One detail that trips people up: if the country of origin already deducted a withholding tax, you declare the amount net of that foreign deduction, and the Belgian 30% applies on top. For the German and Dutch savings accounts of the neobanks mentioned, there's generally no withholding at source, so gross equals the net figure to declare. When in doubt on a specific case, the FPS Finance settles it better than any forum.

Must you also report the account to the National Bank?

Yes, if it's foreign, and it's an obligation separate from the interest. The existence of the account is reported once to the Central Contact Point (CCP) of the National Bank of Belgium, and ticked every year in box XIII.A of the return. This double formality applies even if the account earned nothing.

Plenty of people fall into that hole. A Trade Republic or bunq account opened "to try it out", left at €50, without a euro of interest: nothing to declare on the income side, but the account itself must be reported. The first year, I forgot that box for a German account — the slip is fixable without drama, but it remains a legal obligation.

The Belgian IBAN changes things for Revolut. Since May 2025, its new Belgian accounts get a BE IBAN: the account is then no longer a foreign account and drops out of this formality. Accounts opened before, with a Lithuanian IBAN, still have to be reported until they migrate. Check your IBAN prefix in the app rather than assuming.

How much is really left after the withholding tax?

Multiply the gross rate by 0.7. An account at 3% gross earns about 2.1% net; an account at 2% gross drops to 1.4% net; an account at 1.50% gross ends at 1.05% net. No exemption softens the calculation, whatever the amount deposited.

On €20,000 parked for a year at 3% gross, that's €600 of interest, of which €180 goes to the tax authority: you keep €420. The same capital on a regulated Belgian savings account at 1.50% earns €300 — and those €300 are fully exempt, since we're far from the €1,020 cap. The real gap therefore shrinks to €120, where the gross rates suggested double that.

I've redone this calculation for several people who were about to empty their savings account. The conclusion shifts with the capital, and that's exactly the trap: on €5,000, the Belgian account wins; on €60,000, the neobank takes the lead because the exemption has long been saturated. The comparator puts the rates side by side, but always run the net calculation before moving your money.

When does a neobank still win despite the 30%?

When the gross-rate gap exceeds the tax cost, or when your capital already saturates the Belgian exemption. The reasoning is done line by line, not on instinct:

One point rate comparisons forget: paperwork has a cost, however small. Declaring three foreign accounts every spring to scrape €40 net is a bad trade. For serious capital, though, the question no longer arises. I use both, without hesitation: the Belgian savings account for the emergency fund, the neobank for what goes beyond.

What's the risk if you forget to declare?

A reassessment with late-payment interest, and a tax increase if the authority finds bad faith. The Belgian tax authority already receives data on your European accounts through automatic exchange of information (the CRS standard), which more than a hundred countries take part in: a foreign account isn't discreet.

That's the point I hammer most. Neobanks aren't tax havens, they're licensed European banks that transmit their data like the rest. Revolut is licensed in Lithuania, N26 in Germany, bunq in the Netherlands, Trade Republic in Germany: all within the CRS perimeter. The licence can be checked with the FSMA and the National Bank of Belgium.

A good-faith oversight isn't a disaster. It's fixed with a corrective return or a letter to the tax office, and generally settles at the tax due plus interest. The real risk starts when it's left to drag on for several years.

In short

Neobank interest is taxed at 30% from the first euro, without the €1,020 exemption or the 15% rate of regulated Belgian savings accounts. Revolut withholds those 30% at source on its Belgian savings account since August 2025, so there's nothing to declare on that interest. Trade Republic, N26 and bunq pay gross: box VII, codes 1444-11 or 2444-78. The foreign account itself is reported to the CCP of the National Bank and ticked in box XIII.A, even without interest received. Always run the net calculation: on a small balance, the Belgian account often stays ahead. To compare rates line by line, use the comparator; if you're still torn between two providers, our head-to-head Trade Republic or Revolut and our guide to the best neobank for savings dig into the return question.

Sources: FPS Finance (savings and investment income, foreign accounts, boxes VII and XIII of the personal income tax return), Wikifin (taxation of interest, exemption for regulated savings accounts), National Bank of Belgium (Central Contact Point), FSMA (register of licensed institutions), Test-Achats (declaring foreign accounts, February 2026; interest at foreign brokers, June 2026), Revolut Belgium savings account terms and Trade Republic, N26 and bunq pricing schedules consulted in July 2026.