As an employee or self-employed person on the Belgian payroll you will also pay social security contributions. They serve to partly finance the Belgian Social Security System that provides among others unemployment benefits and health care insurance.
Social security contributions are taken directly from your salary each month. Overall, employees pay 13.07% of their wages into the social security system. Employers, however, pay double – around 27%. Contributions go to the ONSS/RNZ.
Self-employed workers in Belgium must make social security contributions to a social insurance fund. Self-employed contributions are usually a higher percentage of income than those paid by employees. This is because they must cover some of the contributions that the employer would otherwise pay.