Document retention periods: Belgium
How long a company must keep invoices, accounting books, payroll, personnel files and tax records, with the law and article behind each period. Where the legal text could not be confirmed, the row says so instead of showing a guess.
Verified on 7 August 2026 and correct to the best of our research at that date. Retention law changes, and the period for a specific document can depend on your sector, contract terms, or an open tax audit. Treat this as a starting point and confirm with your accountant or lawyer before you dispose of anything.
Belgium
1 / 7 document types confirmed
Invoices, issued and received
Not confirmed
- Why this row is empty
- Article 60, § 3 of the Code de la TVA was amended by the loi du 18 décembre 2025 portant des dispositions diverses, which reduced the retention period in that paragraph and in § 4, first subparagraph, from ten to seven years, with retroactive effect for VAT that became chargeable from 1 January 2023; the period is counted from 1 January following the date of issue of the invoice. The ten-year period stated in circular 2023/C/58 therefore no longer applies to any year. No single period is shown here because the rule changed recently and invoices relating to an investment good that is still within its VAT revision period may have to be kept for 15 or 25 years. Confirm the period that applies in your case.
Accounting ledgers and annual accounts
Not confirmed
- Why this row is empty
- Under the Code de droit économique, accounting books are kept for seven years from 1 January of the year following their closing (art. III.88), and supporting documents are kept, in original or in copy, for seven years (art. III.86), or three years for documents that do not serve as proof towards third parties. The longer ten-year tax period no longer exists: the loi du 18 décembre 2025 replaced « dixième » with « septième » in CIR 92 art. 315, al. 3, from assessment year 2023, and Code de la TVA art. 60 likewise moved from ten to seven years. No figure is shown here because the range previously given for this document type rested on that repealed ten-year rule. Confirm the period that applies in your case.
Payroll records
5 years
- The clock starts
- Individual account (compte individuel) and its annexes, including payslip copies: from the expiry of the period the document covers ('à partir de l'expiration de la période de la tenue de ce document'). General or special personnel register: from the date of the last compulsory entry ('à partir de la date de l'inscription de la dernière mention obligatoire'). Student contracts, home-worker contracts, professional-immersion conventions and mobility-allowance or mobility-budget agreements: from the day after the contract or convention ends. Note: tax slips 281.10 follow the income-tax rule, which is 7 years (not 10) since the loi du 18 décembre 2025.
- Legal basis
Arrêté royal du 8 août 1980 relatif à la tenue des documents sociaux, art. 25 (exécution de l'arrêté royal n° 5 du 23 octobre 1978) / KB van 8 augustus 1980 betreffende het bijhouden van sociale documenten, art. 25
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Employee personnel files
Not confirmed
- Why this row is empty
- No statutory retention period exists for the personnel file: the five-year rule for social documents does not apply to it, and for information on candidates and staff there is no legal provision other than keeping it no longer than necessary for its purpose, while the guidance of the GBA/APD limits the retention of a former employee's mailbox to one to three months at most. Article 15 of the loi du 3 juillet 1978 sets a limitation period for claims arising from the employment contract, not a duty to keep documents, and article 5, 1, e) of the RGPD (GDPR) limits how long personal data may be stored rather than fixing a minimum. For that reason no fixed period is shown for this document type. Keep each document only as long as its purpose requires and confirm the period for your case.
Tax returns and supporting records
Not confirmed
- Why this row is empty
- The loi du 18 décembre 2025 portant des dispositions diverses reversed the ten-year extension introduced by the loi du 20 novembre 2022: in CIR 92 art. 315, al. 3, the word « dixième » was replaced by « septième », applicable from assessment year 2023, so no assessment year remains under the ten-year regime. Books and documents used to determine taxable income are now kept until the end of the seventh year or seventh accounting year following the taxable period, and related deadlines have also changed: the assessment periods are three or four years, and the period in case of fraud went from ten to seven years. No figure is shown here because the period previously given for this document type rested on the repealed ten-year rule. Confirm the period that applies in your case.
Commercial contracts
Not confirmed
- Why this row is empty
- No Belgian provision has been identified that sets a single retention period for contracts as such. Article 60 of the Code de la TVA governs the books, invoices and documents whose keeping, drawing up or issuing the VAT Code prescribes, with the duration set in §§ 3 and 4, now seven years (loi du 18 décembre 2025, retroactive to VAT chargeable from 1 January 2023), and the ten-year rule of art. 2262bis, § 1er of the ancien Code civil is a limitation period for personal actions, not a duty to keep documents. In practice, commercial contracts are covered as supporting documents (pièces justificatives) for seven years under Code de droit économique art. III.86, and employment contracts by the five-year rule for social documents. Confirm the period that applies to your contracts in your case.
Bank statements and payment records
Not confirmed
- Why this row is empty
- No Belgian article names bank statements (extraits de compte) explicitly. Treated as supporting documents (pièces justificatives) they fall under Code de droit économique art. III.86 (seven years), and as documents used to determine taxable income under CIR 92 art. 315 (seven years); the ten-year period of Code de la TVA art. 60 no longer applies, since the loi du 18 décembre 2025 reduced it to seven years for VAT chargeable from 1 January 2023. No figure is shown here because this result rests on how bank statements are classified rather than on an article that names them. Keep bank statements for as long as your accounting supporting documents and tax records, and confirm the period for your case.
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