Self-Employed Student (student-zelfstandige).
Practical guide to becoming a student freelancer: joining a social insurance fund, taxation, social contributions and your rights as a student entrepreneur.
Self-employed Student (”Student-Zelfstandige”)
In one sentence
Everything you need to run a business correctly as a student: conditions, thresholds, taxes/VAT and social contributions.
Category summary
The pages in this category help students understand and apply the student self-employed status correctly: the conditions, relevant thresholds, and how to track income, VAT and social contributions in practice. It includes both official sources (VLAIO/FPS) and internal Gentrepreneur/Startium overviews.
Classification (based on tags)
- Administratie & formaliteiten
- Changes to student self-employed status from 1 October 2026
- Entrepreneurship as a student self-employed (VLAIO)
- FPS Finance calculator – dependents
- Graduating as a student self-employed (academic year 2025–2026)
- International student: starting a business in Belgium (professional card/visa) — VLAIO
- Starting as a student self-employed: thresholds & administration (Gentrepreneur – Startium Board)
- Student self-employed status: what is it and how do you start? (VLAIO)
- Student self-employed: started up — what now? (VLAIO checklist)
- Student self-employed: what after graduation? (VLAIO)
- Belastingen & BTW
- Entrepreneurship as a student self-employed (VLAIO)
- FPS Finance calculator – dependents
- Graduating as a student self-employed (academic year 2025–2026)
- Starting as a student self-employed: thresholds & administration (Gentrepreneur – Startium Board)
- Student self-employed: started up — what now? (VLAIO checklist)
- Student self-employed: taxes and staying fiscally dependent
- Threshold amounts, VAT & getting started
- Thresholds 2026 (social contributions & personal income tax)
- Bijzonder statuut student-ondernemer
- Juridisch
- Sociale bijdragen
- Changes to student self-employed status from 1 October 2026
- Entrepreneurship as a student self-employed (VLAIO)
- Graduating as a student self-employed (academic year 2025–2026)
- Starting as a student self-employed: thresholds & administration (Gentrepreneur – Startium Board)
- Student self-employed status: what is it and how do you start? (VLAIO)
- Student self-employed: what after graduation? (VLAIO)
- Threshold amounts, VAT & getting started
- Thresholds 2026 (social contributions & personal income tax)
- Student-zelfstandige
- Changes in 2026 to the student self-employed status
- Changes to student self-employed status from 1 October 2026
- Entrepreneurship as a student self-employed (VLAIO)
- FPS Finance calculator – dependents
- Graduating as a student self-employed (academic year 2025–2026)
- International student: starting a business in Belgium (professional card/visa) — VLAIO
- Starting as a student self-employed: thresholds & administration (Gentrepreneur – Startium Board)
- Student self-employed status: what is it and how do you start? (VLAIO)
- Student self-employed: started up — what now? (VLAIO checklist)
- Student self-employed: taxes and staying fiscally dependent
- Student self-employed: what after graduation? (VLAIO)
- Threshold amounts, VAT & getting started
- Thresholds 2026 (social contributions & personal income tax)
- Young entrepreneurs in numbers (VLAIO)
- Tools & templates
Table of contents (all articles)
- Changes in 2026 to the student self-employed status
- Changes to student self-employed status from 1 October 2026
- Entrepreneurship as a student self-employed (VLAIO)
- FPS Finance calculator – dependents
- Graduating as a student self-employed (academic year 2025–2026)
- International student: starting a business in Belgium (professional card/visa) — VLAIO
- Starting as a student self-employed: thresholds & administration (Gentrepreneur – Startium Board)
- Student self-employed status: what is it and how do you start? (VLAIO)
- Student self-employed: started up — what now? (VLAIO checklist)
- Student self-employed: taxes and staying fiscally dependent
- Student self-employed: what after graduation? (VLAIO)
- Threshold amounts, VAT & getting started
- Thresholds 2026 (social contributions & personal income tax)
- Young entrepreneurs in numbers (VLAIO)
Articles in this category.
15 articles
Changes to student self-employed status from 1 October 2026
A Royal Decree of 5 June 2026 amends article 5bis (ARS) with relaxations and clarifications for the student self-employed status. The changes apply from 1 October 2026 and…
Read articleSwitching social insurance funds after an interruption in student self-employed status
A student self-employed person who genuinely stops the activity and starts again a few months later does not have to return to the previous social insurance fund. The 4-year rule…
Read articleGraduating as a student self-employed (academic year 2025–2026)
You are graduating as a student self-employed: until when does your status run, what are your options from 1 October (secondary occupation, primary occupation or stopping), and…
Read articleThreshold amounts, VAT & getting started
Overview of key threshold amounts for students (student employee and student self-employed) that determine whether you keep benefits (e.g. fiscal dependency, social contributions,…
Read articleStarting as a student self-employed: thresholds & administration (Gentrepreneur – Startium Board)
Public Startium board (Gentrepreneur) bundling practical information for starting as a student self-employed, focusing on administration and threshold amounts. It helps you…
Read articleThresholds 2026 (social contributions & personal income tax)
Key figures for 2026 for student self-employed (from VLAIO): thresholds for social contributions (exemption/reduced rate/main occupation) plus the fiscal threshold to remain…
Read articleFPS Finance calculator – dependents
The FPS Finance (Belgium) calculator helps simulate the tax advantage of dependents (e.g. children). Key steps include selecting household situation, checking income conditions…
Read articleEntrepreneurship as a student self-employed (VLAIO)
VLAIO hub page for students who want to run a business as student self-employed: from checking readiness to understanding your status, financing, obligations after starting, and…
Read articleChanges in 2026 to the student self-employed status
On 3 April 2026 the Belgian Council of Ministers approved a draft Royal Decree introducing simplifications for the student self-employed status: e.g. no more declaration on…
Read articleStudent self-employed status: what is it and how do you start? (VLAIO)
VLAIO explains what the student self-employed status is (ages 18–25) and how to get started. It allows students to run a business with a more favourable social-contributions…
Read articleStudent self-employed: taxes and staying fiscally dependent
Tax points for students who run a business: when you (don’t) pay personal income tax, when you remain fiscally dependent on your parents, and which income counts (including…
Read articleStudent self-employed: started up — what now? (VLAIO checklist)
VLAIO checklist of what you should arrange after starting as a student self-employed: VAT, permits, accounting, insurance, filings and correct invoicing (incl. e-invoicing from…
Read articleStudent self-employed: what after graduation? (VLAIO)
VLAIO explains how long you can keep the student self-employed status after graduating and which options you have to continue (main occupation, secondary occupation with a job,…
Read articleInternational student: starting a business in Belgium (professional card/visa) — VLAIO
VLAIO overview for international students who want to be self-employed in Belgium: when you need a professional card, which documents/conditions apply, and when a visa/residence…
Read articleYoung entrepreneurs in numbers (VLAIO)
VLAIO reference page to figures/infographics about young entrepreneurship. The source view contained little content, but it links to a page with downloadable infographics per year.
Read article