Belgium has a real private foundation: a notarial deed, one director, a disinterested purpose and no distributions to founders outside it. Its main family use is certification: parents keep the votes, children receive certificates under the regional family-company gift regime, at 0% in Flanders for qualifying companies. Asset-holding foundations pay an annual tax of 0.15% to 0.45% above EUR 50,000 since 2024.
What a Belgian private foundation is
Belgium has a true private foundation (private stichting, fondation privée) under book 11 of the Code of Companies and Associations. It is set up by notarial deed without government approval, has no members, can have a single director and must pursue a disinterested purpose. It may not give material benefits to founders or directors unless that falls within its purpose, and only a court can dissolve it.
Families use it for three things: to certify the shares of a family company so that parents keep control while children receive the value; to keep an estate or a collection together; and to provide for a vulnerable relative. Philanthropy often uses the foundation of public utility, which needs a royal decree.
The Belgian STAK
Shares go to the foundation, certificates to the family; votes stay with the board.
Keeping things together
A collection, a family property, a long-term purpose.
Provision for a relative
A disinterested purpose that can benefit a family member.
Certification of family company shares
- How it works. Parents transfer shares to the foundation, which issues certificates one for one. Income is passed on to certificate holders within 15 days, which makes the structure transparent for tax under the 1998 certification law.
- Gifts of certificates. The certificates can then be given to the children under the regional family-company regime: in Flanders 0% gift tax on qualifying family companies (reformed from 2026), 3% on inheritance in direct line.
- Conditions. In Flanders: at least 50% family holding (or 30% with family pooling), real activity, no residential real estate companies, a certified valuation and three years of continuity.
- Control. The board, usually the parents, keeps the votes; certificates can be made non-convertible.
Belgian families do not certify shares to save tax. They do it so that the shares can be given at 0% without giving away the company.
How the foundation and the family are taxed
| Item | Treatment in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Tax on the foundation | Legal entities tax, not corporate tax |
| Dividends received | 30% withholding, final |
| Annual tax on assets | Since 2024: EUR 50,000 exempt, then 0.15%, 0.30% and 0.45% by band; foreign real estate included |
| Pure certification foundation | Reported to be outside the annual tax on assets; check after the 2024 reform |
| Contribution of assets | Gift tax, about 5.5% in Flanders for a lifetime gift; certification exchanges are not gifts |
| Distributions to beneficiaries | In principle not taxed |
| Cayman (look-through) tax | Does not apply to a properly constituted Belgian private foundation |
| Capital gains tax from 2026 | Legal entities are in scope: 10% on financial gains above the exemption |
Purpose and yearly tax
A simplified view of the rules and the annual tax on assets.
Belgian private foundation: purpose and annual tax
Choose the purpose and enter the assets. You see the main rules and the yearly tax on assets.
Belgian foundation, Dutch STAK or Luxembourg company?
For Belgian families the Belgian private foundation usually wins over a Dutch STAK: the STAK has no Belgian certification regime and may be caught by the Belgian look-through tax, and its certificate holders are not treated in the same way for the family-company gift regime. A Luxembourg holding can sit under the Belgian foundation when the group is international, but it does not replace it.
Notarial deed, one director, disinterested purpose.
Control with the board, value with the children.
0.15% to 0.45% above EUR 50,000 for asset-holding foundations.
No look-through tax, fits the regional gift regimes.