Capital gains tax under the guise of a solidarity contribution

On June 30, 2025, the federal government reached an agreement on a new capital gains tax, which will henceforth be referred to as the solidarity contribution. What can investors and entrepreneurs expect?

The agreement still needs to be finalized in a draft bill, with the aim of coming into force on January 1, 2026. The preliminary draft was approved at first reading by the Council of Ministers on Friday, July 18, 2025, and is now being submitted to the Council of State. It will then have to be approved at second reading by the Council of Ministers. The content of the preliminary draft is therefore not yet final and may still be subject to change.

The new capital gains tax requires insight and action. Noma will hold a seminar on the solidarity contribution as soon as the specific draft legislation is available. We currently expect this to be available in mid/late August. The seminar is therefore provisionally scheduled for September. You can already register your interest in attending our seminar via this link.

Below is an initial summary of the agreement on the solidarity contribution.

The solidarity contribution can be divided into two different categories: realized capital gains on financial assets and shareholders with a “significant interest.”

Financial assets

The solidarity contribution will consist of a 10% tax on realized gains from shares, bonds, cryptocurrencies, etc. Group insurance policies and pension savings will remain exempt.

With the aim of only affecting large fortunes, an exemption of €10,000 per year will apply. This exemption will be indexed annually. If no gains are realized in a given year, the exemption will increase by €1,000 each year up to a maximum of €15,000.

Capital losses/losses are not transferable, but must be deducted from profits in the same year. If there is a final surplus of realized profits, only this will be taxed.

Collection will be carried out via the banks or via a specific certificate that can be used for tax returns and for verification by the tax authorities. We understand that financial institutions are finding it difficult to implement this new complex scheme in time.

Shareholders with a “significant interest”

Different rates will apply to shareholders with an individual minimum participation of 20% in a company. In this case, an exemption of €1,000,000 per five-year period applies. The following rates apply to realized profits above €1,000,000:

Exit tax

The government wants to prevent people from evading the solidarity contribution by selling their financial assets or transferring them abroad. That is why an exit tax was included in the agreement. This tax applies when the taxpayer establishes residence abroad or when financial assets are sold or donated to a natural or legal person established abroad. Even if the financial assets are not actually realized, the capital gains tax will still have to be paid.

There is one exception to this: if the assets are transferred to a country in the EU, EEA, or a country with a double taxation treaty, the tax will be deferred for a period of two years. If no assets are realized during that two-year period, no capital gains tax will be due.

Valuation

To determine the actual added value (basis for the levy), the value fixed on December 31, 2025, is used as a starting point. For listed assets, this will be the market value on that day. However, this will be much more difficult for unlisted assets. Either an independent auditor will be appointed to determine the value on that date, or we will fall back on the standard valuation rules. However, these have not yet been determined in the agreement and remain an open question. Hopefully, the text of the law itself will provide more clarity on this.

Here too, there is an exception for historical capital gains. If the original acquisition value was higher than the value on December 31, 2025, one can opt to use this original value when calculating the capital gain, provided that the assets are realized before December 31, 2030.