1️⃣ New carried interest tax regime in a nutshell

🔸 Under this regime, the “carried interest income” (i.e., the so-called disproportionate yield compared to passive investors) is taxable in the hands of fund managers as movable income at a 25% tax rate.

🔸 The carried interest income is subject to this (attractive) tax regime when it is paid by a “carried interest vehicle”, i.e. an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) established in Belgium, in the EU or outside the EU (provided that the AIF is subject to a similar regulation).

2️⃣ Exclusion of holding companies, family offices, MIP

🔸 Holding genuine holding companies, management incentive schemes and family office vehicles are not captured by the definition of AIF.

🤔 Legal uncertainty therefore remains regarding the tax treatment of the carried interest income attributed by these vehicles to Belgian fund managers.

3️⃣ Private equity vehicles generally in scope

☀️ Private equity funds (where carried interest schemes are often implemented) will generally qualify as an AIF (within the meaning of the AIFM law of 19 April 2014), e.g. the Luxembourg SCSp or the French SLPS.

4️⃣ Pooling vehicle : eligible AIF?

⚠️ Defining the scope of eligible AIFs is however not always straightforward, as illustrated by a recent tax ruling (27 July 2026, nr. 2026.0207) where the ruling commission did not confirm the application of the new carried interest tax regime to distributions made by a Dutch pooling vehicle (CV) that aggregates the carried interest interests of (Belgian) fund managers and that is set up and controlled by the fund or the fund manager.

5️⃣ Cayman tax: the exception applicable to AIF

🔸 Similar difficulties arise when determining the scope of AIFs which fall outside the scope of the Cayman tax.

🔸In another recent ruling (2025.0048), the question whether a Delaware LP could benefit or not from the exception applicable to AIF was left unanswered… I refer in this respect to my previous post.[1]

Denis-Emmanuel Philippe 

[1] Taxe Caïman : application de l’exception OPC à un fonds d’investissement US (LP du Delaware) ? Ruling récent (SDA) | Denis-Emmanuel Philippe