What is group insurance in Belgium?
Group insurance (assurance de groupe / groepsverzekering) is a supplementary pension plan that a Belgian employer takes out with an insurance company for its employees. It is part of the second pension pillar, on top of the statutory pension, and is governed by the Law of 28 April 2003 on supplementary pensions. The same kind of plan can also be run through a pension fund instead of an insurer.
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The employer pays contributions to the insurer, sometimes together with a personal contribution withheld from the employee’s pay, and the insurer builds up a capital or annuity paid at retirement, or to the beneficiaries if the employee dies first. Plans often add cover that keeps contributions going if the employee becomes unable to work. Some joint committees run a sector pension plan that employers must join, unless the sector agreement lets them offer an equivalent company plan.
The 80% rule
Employer contributions are tax-deductible for the company only within the 80% rule in article 59 of the Income Tax Code. The statutory pension and the supplementary pension, both expressed as annual amounts, cannot exceed 80% of the employee’s last normal gross annual salary, taking a normal career length into account. Contributions that fund a pension above that limit are not deductible.
Employer social security costs
Employer contributions are not subject to ordinary social security contributions. Instead, the employer pays a special contribution of 8.86% on them to the National Social Security Office. Where an employee’s statutory pension plus the reserves built up in the year exceed a legal pension target, an extra contribution, known as the Wijninckx contribution, is due on the employer’s share of the increase: 3% until 2025 and 12.5% from contribution year 2026. Sigedis, the body that keeps supplementary pension records, calculates it, and the employer declares it in the fourth-quarter DmfA.
The minimum return guarantee
The law requires a minimum return on contributions, which the employer must guarantee when the employee retires or transfers the reserves after leaving. The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) publishes the rate each year: it was 1.75% from 2016 to 2024 and is 2.50% for 2025, 2026 and 2027. If the insurer’s return falls short, the employer funds the difference.
Group insurance when TopSource runs your payroll
When TopSource runs your payroll in Belgium, we withhold any employee contributions, report the employer contributions and the 8.86% contribution in the DmfA, and work with your insurer or broker so the plan’s salary data match payroll.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 80% rule in Belgium?
A tax limit: employer pension contributions are deductible only if the statutory and supplementary pensions together do not exceed 80% of the employee’s last normal gross annual salary, for a normal career.
What social security contribution applies to group insurance?
A special employer contribution of 8.86% on the employer’s contributions, plus the Wijninckx contribution of 12.5% from 2026 where the pension exceeds the legal target.
What is the guaranteed minimum return on Belgian group insurance?
2.50% a year for 2025, 2026 and 2027, set by the FSMA. The employer must make up any shortfall when the employee retires or leaves and transfers the reserves.
Related terms in Belgium
- Joint Committee (Belgium)
- Dimona Declaration (Belgium)
- Unified Status (Belgium)
- Outplacement Obligation (Belgium)
- Non-Compete Clause (Belgium)
- Time Credit (Belgium)
- Work Regulations (Belgium)
- Single Permit (Belgium)
- Ecocheques (Belgium)
- Payroll Withholding Tax (Belgium)
- Automatic Salary Indexation (Belgium)
- Meal Vouchers (Belgium)
- Benefit in Kind for Company Cars (Belgium)
- CO2 Solidarity Contribution (Belgium)
- Tax Form 281.10 (Belgium)