Making revenue before the official start of your self-employed activity: how to encode it
It happens more often than you'd think: you earn some money from your work before you're officially registered as self-employed. Maybe you did a few paid jobs to test whether the activity was for you, or you found your first clients before your KBO/BCE registration or before your VAT number was active.
The good news: this income can absolutely be handled correctly. The key question is not the date you registered, but whether the income came from the same professional activity you now run. In this article, we walk you through both situations and how to encode each one.
Situation | How it's treated | Where in your tax return |
The income came from the same activity you now run (a "test" period, first clients before registering) | Professional income. You add it in Accountable. | Box XVII or XVIII, part 2, depending on your activity (Accountable generates this for you) |
The income was a one-off, occasional thing, unrelated to your current activity | Not professional income. You don't add it in Accountable. | Box XV "Miscellaneous income", part 2, code 1200/2200 |
Situation 1: the income was part of your activity 👉
This is the most common case. You started looking for clients, did a few paid jobs, or ran a "test" before officially registering, and that work is the same thing you now do as a self-employed person.
What matters fiscally is the moment you actually started carrying out a profit-making professional activity, not the date of your KBO/BCE registration. So this income is professional income, exactly like the income you earned after registering.
How to encode it in Accountable
Create the invoices for this income in Accountable, using the real date of the service or sale (the original date, for example May or June), not today's date. This makes sure the income lands in the correct income year.
Link them to the current VAT quarter for the VAT side (more on that just below).
Once encoded, the amount flows automatically into the total Accountable generates for your tax return, so you don't need to add anything manually in MyMinfin.
⚠️ Important: the VAT side needs care. Even though you weren't registered for VAT yet when you did the work, VAT can still be due on that turnover once you're a VAT taxpayer. You generally can't treat it as "no VAT because I wasn't registered". Include the pre-start turnover in your next VAT return. Be aware that late-payment interest may be charged, since the VAT was technically due earlier. However, this is not automatic: treat it as a possibility, not a certainty. If you correct this on your own initiative (before the FPS contacts you), no penalty is normally applied. If interest is charged, you can request a waiver from the FPS.
💡 Because this touches an already-closed VAT period and your income tax return at the same time, we recommend confirming your specific case directly with the FPS Finances before you file. You can contact them via https://financien.belgium.be/nl/contact.
Situation 2: it was a one-off, unrelated to your activity 👉
If the money you received was a genuinely occasional, one-time thing that has nothing to do with the professional activity you now run (for example a single unrelated sale or favor), it's usually not professional income.
In that case it does not belong in your self-employed accounting in Accountable, and you can't add it there. You declare it yourself directly in your personal income tax return, as miscellaneous income in box XV "Miscellaneous income", part 2, under code 1200/2200.
Because the line between "the start of my activity" and "a one-off" isn't always obvious, and it changes both the income tax treatment and whether VAT applies, we recommend confirming with the FPS Finances if you're unsure.
Don't forget your pre-start costs 💡
Good news on the expense side: you can also deduct professional costs you made before your official start, as long as they're linked to your activity. In Belgium, start-up costs are deductible when they meet the usual conditions (art. 49 CIR 92), provided they were incurred in the same calendar year in which you effectively started your activity.
So keep the invoices and receipts of everything you bought to get going (material, software, professional insurance, and so on), even from before you registered.
📧 Still have questions? Reach out to us in the chat, we're happy to help! 💜