There is still time to optimize your 2019 tax return

Here are the expenses that you can still make in 2018 and that will lighten your tax bill in 2019.

It may not be too late yet to realize expenses that could lead to a tax cut next year. Whether in real estate, savings, investment, some expenses made this year will result in 2019 by a reduction on your tax form. Most tax cuts are still federal, but with regionalization, each Region has determined its own package of tax cuts based on the behaviors it wants to encourage. Let's see what you can do before December 31, 2018 in different areas to ease your tax slip, the payment dates of the invoices or payments showing.

→ Conclude your mortgage loan

If you conclude a mortgage loan for your own home, you can benefit from a tax reduction if you bought in Wallonia or Flanders.

In Wallonia, amount you have to pay "habitat check"is calculated based on your income. maximum 1.520 euros per taxpayer and is inversely proportional to the income of the taxpayer. A lump sum of 125 euros per child is also granted. For example, a taxpayer with a net taxable income of 80,000 euros per year will receive 772 euros. This tax reduction only applies to mortgages signed for a minimum of 10 years and used to finance the acquisition or construction of a home. Renovation work alone does not count, unless it is concomitant with the acquisition.

In Flanders, the housing bonus gives right to a tax advantage of 40% calculated on a maximum amount of 2,360 euros per year (including 760 euros increase during the first ten years and 80 euros increase for families with a minimum of 3 dependent children).

If this tax basket is not completed, for example, if you conclude your loan by the end of the year, then you can complete it by adding the amounts paid for your outstanding balance insurance. But be careful, in case it should unfortunately occur (if a borrower dies during the repayment period of his loan), the amount paid by the insurance will be taxed.

→ Renovate your rented home in AIS …

There is still time to carry out work in a home that you rent through a social real estate agency (AIS). In fact, in Flanders and Wallonia, if you have a lease of at least 9 years with an AIS, you can get a tax reduction of 45% on the expenses granted during 9 years. This reduction is calculated on 5% of invoiced expenses, with an annual maximum of 1.170 euros per dwelling. The investment must be at least 11,740 euros.

→ … or your monument

Walloon and Flemish owners of monuments and clbadified sites are entitled to a 30% tax reduction on half of the maintenance and restoration costs of their good. These costs are limited to 39,150 euros, which limits the tax reduction to 11,745 euros.

→ Insulate your roof (in Wallonia)

Wallonia is the only region that still offers a tax reduction for work to insulate the roof. This is a reduction of 30% on the expenditure made, with a ceiling of 3,200 euros.

→ Feed your pension savings

Payments made in an insurance or pension savings account are eligible for a 30% tax advantage if you do not exceed the ceiling of 960 euros. If you choose to contribute more (up to 1,230 euros), the tax reduction will be of only 25%. This means that it is interesting to choose the increased formula only if you pay more than 1,152 euros.

→ Buy shares of your employer

If you do not claim the tax reduction for pension savings, you can apply for the tax reduction for the acquisition of shares from your employer or from your parent company. The tax advantage is 30% calculated on a maximum amount declared of 750 euros.

→ Support a beginner company

If you are investing in a start-up or growing business, you can recover conditionally 30% of your investment (maximum 100,000 euros) for a small company and 45% for a micro-enterprise. The investment can be made via a crowdfunding platform. The system has been extended since this year to growing businesses, with a tax cut of 25%.

→ Invest in development funds

Development funds provide microcredit or other financial services to those who create very small businesses or operate in developing countries. This is for example Alterfin, Incofin or Oikocredit. The tax reduction is for those who buy for at least 380 euros of these fund units. They will recover 30% of their investment with a maximum of 320 euros.

→ Get a loan boost

This is a Walloon specificity. If you are Walloon and you lend up to 50,000 euros to one (or more) independent, micro-enterprises or an SME established in Wallonia, you can recover 4% in the form of a tax credit next year, 2,000 euros maximum. In subsequent years, however, the tax benefit will be reduced to 2.5%.

→ Contribute to long-term savings

If your tax basket is not filled by your mortgage loan, you can declare premiums paid into a life insurance policy as part of long-term federal savings, with a cap of 2,310 euros. This entitles you to a tax advantage of 30%.

→ Order service checks or ALE checks

Order for service checks or ALE checks. Even if you do not use them all in 2018, they will still be valid next year. Each spouse can take advantage of the tax benefit.

A service ticket costs 9 euros for the first 400. The tax advantage is:

• 0.90 euro per title out of the first 150 in the Walloon Region
• 1.35 euro per title out of the first 160 in the Brussels-Capital Region
• 2.7 euros per title for the first 160 in the Flemish Region.

For ALE checks (minor repair and maintenance work, reception of sick children), the deduction ceiling is € 1,440, on which is calculated a tax reduction of:

• 30% in Wallonia and Flanders
• 15% in Brussels-Capital Region

ALE checks and service vouchers are part of the same tax basket.

→ Pay your childcare bills

Pay your bills for crèche, school daycare, hospitable, internship or summer camps. You can recover a portion of the amount paid next year if your children were under twelve at the time of reception. The amount to be reported is the amount paid per day of reception, with a maximum of 11.20 euros per day, on which you will get a tax reduction of 45%.

→ Hire a domestic worker

Did you know that by hiring a domestic worker, you will be able to reduce your tax bill next year? It may not be too late to find the rare gem … You can, under conditions, get a 30% tax reduction on half of the wages you paid to a domestic employee who is working in France. cooking, in your garden, which provides nursing care, to an au pair or to your driver. The maximum deductible is 7.530 euros.

By paying a minimum amount of 40 euros before the next year to a recognized foundation or charity (in one or more installments), you will receive a 45% tax reduction. If you really want to be very happy, know that you can not benefit from this reduction if you distribute more than 10% of your taxable income, with an absolute maximum of 376,350 euros.

Finally, do not pack. There is unfortunately no tax reduction for the purchase of a car or an electric bike. Only the purchase of an electric motorcycle (with a sidecar if you want), a tricycle or a quadricycle electric gives right to a 15% advantage of the purchase value, capped at 3.010 euros (4,940 euros for a quadricycle). No, a quadricycle is not a car, contrary to what the etymology might suggest. A quadricycle is a four-wheeled vehicle with an unladen mbad of less than or equal to 400 kg (550 kg for vehicles used for the carriage of goods), excluding the mbad of batteries.