19 July, 2021

The advantage of all kinds... a classic on the pay slip

Het voordeel van alle aard

Benefits in kind (VAA); you will have seen them on your pay slip anyway. But what exactly are VAA, and how are they taxed?

SG&A are goods or services that an employer offers to an employee for private use, either free of charge or at a low price. The possibilities are endless. A company car, a mobile phone with subscription, a laptop, internet access, but also, for example, domestic staff, free electricity or even cheap loans can be granted as a benefit to the employee.

The government generally considers these 'benefits in kind' to be a form of pay. Therefore, both taxes and social security contributions (NSSO) will be due on the value of the benefits in kind.

How are the benefits calculated?

In principle, the value of the benefit in kind corresponds to the actual value of the private use of the goods or services. For many benefits, however, the government fixed a lump sum. This means that a fixed amount was attached to the value of the benefit.

For a PC, for example, the benefit is estimated at EUR 72 per year, for an internet connection it is EUR 60 per year. It is these amounts on which the employee pays personal income tax.

How does it work in practice?

Usually, the VAA is settled via the monthly wage. The social secretariat adds a monthly amount to the wage to calculate the social security and advance tax payment (= advance tax payment).

A simple example: an employer provides an employee with a mobile phone. The employee uses this mobile phone not only for work but also for private purposes. The value of this private use is fixed at EUR 3 per month.

On the monthly pay slip, the value of the VAA is first added to the gross salary. This is necessary to withhold social security and payroll tax from the total amount. To arrive at the net wage, the amount of the VAA is of course deducted again. After all, the benefit consists of the use of the mobile phone, and not a payment of EUR 3.

With this blog, we want to make flexible pay accessible to SMEs. Still not sure how to start? Visit our website payflip.beor send us an email at info@payflip.be.