First visit

In order to make declarations, you need to create your user account. This is a one-off action: you enter your data into Limosa once in order to manage your declarations.

N.B.: the user account must be created using your personal data, not the business details.

What data do you need to create a user account?

• Your email address,
• if you have one: your Belgian social security ID number (NISS),
• if you don't have an NISS, your details:
  • surname and first name,
  • date of birth,
  • gender
  • home address, and
  • your identification number in your country of residence (national number, passport number, social security or social security or pension number),
• if you have one: your enterprise number of your NOSS identification number, and
• your fixed or mobile telephone number.

Go to the homepage of the Limosa online service in order to set up your user account.

Confirmation mail

When you have made an account creation request, you will receive confirmation by email. You have 72 hours to activate the link in the email. You can then make your online declaration.

If you have not been able to activate your account within 72 hours, please get in touch with our Contact Center.

Before undertaking activities in Belgium as an employer, you need to declare the work.

The Limosa online service will allow you to file, extend or cancel declarations.

Businesses in the construction sector must register any work with the social security authorities. As an entrepreneur, if you sign a construction works contract with the principal (contracting authority) on Belgian soil, you will have to file a declaration of works and check-in employees.

The workers you employ must have travel documents. For citizens from the European Economic Area (EU countries + Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and Switzerland, a national passport or ID card is sufficient.

For citizens of other countries, additional documents, such as a visa, are necessary. This condition depends on the duration of your stay in Belgium, among other things.

Check the website of the Belgian federal public service for Business for more information.

Workers you employ must have a residency permit from the commune of their place of residence.

Check the website of the Immigration Office for more information.

For some of those workers (non-European nationals coming to work in Belgium for a period of more than 90 days) you need to apply for a single permit at the Belgian regions. Consult the page about Single permit on this website or the page about Single permit on the website of the Immigration Office (in French).

As an employer you need to obtain an employment authorisation. Furthermore, your workers must be in possession of a work permit depending on their situation:

• To employ workers in Belgium for more than 90 days, employers need to apply a single permit for them at the Belgian regions. Please consult the page on Single permit on this website for more information.
• For an employment in Belgium below 90 days, as a frontier worker or an au pair, a work permit (In French) is required.
• If you are self-employed, you need a professional card (in French).

Certain workers are exempted from the above obligations. This is the case for nationals from the European Economic Area (EU member states, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein), or Switzerland.

The professional pass (in French) is needed for self-employed people looking to establish their business in Belgium.

As a self-employed person or company representative, you need to prove that you have basic knowledge of business management. This applies whether or not the business is your principal or secondary activity.

If you wish to practise one of the 42 regulated professions (in French), you should provide proof of your specific professional skills.

Proof may be provided in the form of a diploma or an EC declaration. This is a declaration from the country of origin as regards the individual's practical experience and education.

For more information, see the conditions of access to the profession (in French).

In principle, the following categories of people will receive a business registration number:

• legal persons under Belgian law
• legal persons under foreign or international law with offices in Belgium or who must register pursuant to an obligation under Belgian law
• any natural or legal person, or association, which, in Belgium:
  • acts in the capacity of a commercial or artisanal business; or
  • is subject to social security as an employer; or
  • is subject to value-added tax; or
  • exercises an intellectual or liberal profession or acts as a service provider in their capacity as a self-employed person.

For more information on this subject, please see the page Website of the Ministry for the Economy, SMEs, Middle Classes and Energy: Information on the company registration number (in French).

Are you a carrier from another EU Member State looking to undertake transport activities to and from Belgium (and on Belgian soil)? If so, you need an EU transport authorisation. This authorisation can be obtained from the country in which you are established.

The EU transport authorisation is also required for inland transport activities. Inland transport refers to a foreign carrier carrying out transport activities between two locations within the same country.

N.B.: There is a temporary ban on carriers from certain EU Member States carrying out internal transport in Belgium. For more information, see the Department of Energy and Transport page.

Employment law obligations regarding the posting of workers: i.e. when a foreign company sends an employee to Belgium to work there temporarily.

When posted workers are employed on Belgian territory, employers must comply with the Belgian labour, wage and employment conditions laid down by the laws and regulations that are subject to criminal law and by the Belgian contractual provisions made compulsory by Royal Decree (in other words, collective labour agreements that are subject to criminal law). These essential provisions ensure the protection of the rights of posted workers in Belgium.

Where the posting of workers will last longer than 12 months, additional labour, wage and employment conditions are applicable as from 30 July 2020. These are in addition to the conditions already mentioned and are in turn subject to certain conditions.

You can, however, be exempted from these additional labour, wage and employment conditions for a period of 6 months. To apply for this exemption, you must send a motivated notification to the Federal Public Service Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue from 30 July 2020 onwards. You can find more information on the page regarding the motivated notification for postings in excess of 12 months on the website of the FPS Employment , Labour and Social Dialogue.

For more information on the legal rules applicable in the case of posting, please consult the Posting – Working conditions page on the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue website.

Employment documents allow the inspection services to check if you have fulfilled your obligations to posted workers as a foreign employer. The inspectors must be able to check how long the worker has been in service, their working hours, how many hours they have worked, what salary has been paid and what other benefits have been paid.

See the Employment Documents page (in French) at the Ministry for Employment, Work and Social Cooperation for more information.

Foreign companies who post personnel in Belgium for the purpose of carrying out construction work must adhere to the sector-related loyalty stamp scheme as set down in the collective labour agreement.

To do this they must create an account with the OPOC (Office Patronal d'Organisation et de Contrôle des régimes de sécurité d'existence):

• Registration form.
• Form for the quarterly declaration of personnel and wages.

For more information, please see the explanatory brochure.

For cross-border activities, international rules on social security (for example European Regulation 883/2004 or bilateral treaties on social security) provide for a form specifying the applicable social security regime.

For more information, see the website of the Ministry of Finance.