Calculating the income

To determine your family income, we look at your income if you live alone. If you live with your partner, we look at the income of both of you.

On the basis of the last assessment notice, for the duration of one year (the allocation year).

For the social allowance:

• The allocation year runs from 1 October to 30 September of the subsequent calendar year.
• You receive the entitlement for the entire allocation year (12 monthly amounts), unless your family situation changes (for example, the arrival of a new child, a different family composition, etc.).

For the school allowance:

• The allocation year runs parallel with the school year, so from 1 September of the school year concerned to 31 August of the subsequent year.
• You receive the allowance once per allocation year;
• Changes in your family situation only have an effect on the amount for the next allocation year.
   

The taxable income before deduction of:

• professional income:
  • as wages: before the deduction of professional costs
  • as a freelancer: after the deduction of professional costs multiplied by a factor of 100/80;
• payments from the health insurance
• unemployment benefits
• pensions
• 80% of maintenance money received
• income from immovable property according to CI (cadastral income):
  • one times the CI of the properties that you use for your profession (as stated on the assessment notice)
  • three times the CI 'other use', that is everything that is not owner-occupied dwelling or professional use
  • the CI from your owner-occupied dwelling does not count
• income replacement allowance allocated to persons with a disability;
• income support (or equivalent income support);
• income allocated to personnel of a European or other international institution for their total contribution, minus the personal contributions for the insurance organised by this institution to cover social security risks.

We reduce the family income by 80% of maintenance paid

• Allowances from the Groeipakket;
• Maintenance for your children:
• Salary and holiday bonus in the context of a flexi-job;
• Separately taxable income such as arrears from previous years and early holiday pay;
• Meal and eco vouchers;
• Expense allowance for volunteers;
• Allowances for help to third parties, help to the elderly, integration allowances for persons with a disability, allowances from the Flemish Care Insurance;
• Expense allowance for childminders paid by Opgroeien (Child and Family Agency);
• Fixed allowances for the guardianship of single foreign minors.

If you suffer severe loss of salary (e.g. due to a lengthy illness) or if your family situation changes drastically (e.g. becoming a single parent), your assessment notice with income from two years ago may not still be relevant.

That is why there is an 'alarm bell procedure'. The payment fund may use more up-to-date data.

Electronic alarm bell

• If one parent receives income support, an income replacement allowance (IVT) or an income guarantee for parents (IGO), the payment fund will automatically allocate the social allowance for these months.

Manual alarm bell

• You prove to your payment fund that your income has been below the stated income limit for at least six consecutive months.
• Request the relevant form from your payment fund.

Your payment fund then pays for the relevant period and until the start of the subsequent allocation year, which runs from 1 October to 30 September of the subsequent year.

Manual alarm bell

• Prove to your payment fund that your income has been on average below the income limit for six months.
• The six months must be in the year in which the allocation year (school year) starts.

• Request the relevant form from your payment fund.

You may find it difficult to collect all the papers required for the manual alarm bell.

• In two years' time, when your payment fund receives the assessment notice showing the income you are earning now, they will check whether you may have been entitled to the social allowance or school allowance.
• For that, all you will need to do is to wait patiently.

If your cadastral income (CI) for other use (non professional and not owner-occupied dwelling) is too large a part of your income, you may lose the entitlement to the social allowance or school allowance.

• You have a CI (indexed) for other use that is greater than 1,250 euros and
• Your CI other use multiplied by three is more than 20% of your total income minus 1x CI profession and 3x CI other use

We do not test your CI if you:

• Receive income support (or equivalent income support)
• Your income consists, for at least 70%, of
  • income replacement allowance for persons with a disability
  • survivor's pension
  • maintenance
  • replacement income