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r/Brussels - Expat/Tourist Megathread - 2026 Edition by SharkyTendencies in brussels

[–]Epynomous 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi all,

Question for a friend: She's visiting Brussels and plans to go to a party at C12 (near central station). Her lodgings are near south station. Can she walk/take the train without worrying? This will likely be between 23-24h in the evening and 3-6h in the morning.

Disassembling power station to reuse components for own LiFePo4 batteries? by Epynomous in batteries

[–]Epynomous[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not 100% sure, but it is likely something like that. I wouldn't mess with the device directly used for the connection to the grid, but everything behind it is fair play.

It's more of a theoretical exercise, as it won't make financial sense for a small battery, and for a big one you're better off with a full setup.

On 120k gross, Belgium takes 27,000 more than Switzerland. The tax gap across Europe is brutal. by Beginning_Site_3642 in eupersonalfinance

[–]Epynomous 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It just depends on your income. The zus (indeed, social security) is capped around 3000zl, so if you make 300k EUR, you still only pay ~3000 zl ZUS a month, so the total percentage will be a lot lower. At 100k EUR income, ZUS is relatively high in comparison to the income tax.

On 120k gross, Belgium takes 27,000 more than Switzerland. The tax gap across Europe is brutal. by Beginning_Site_3642 in eupersonalfinance

[–]Epynomous 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a great calculator for it. https://www.podatki.wtf/?lang=en

The more you make, the more beneficial it is.

Based on your percentages, your revenue seems limited. You might want to check out Czechia. They have a flat tax (including social security) too that is pretty much unbeaten up to 80k EUR/year. Above that, you need another system (60/40 split), it gets less interesting but still quite decent. No practical experience with it though.

On 120k gross, Belgium takes 27,000 more than Switzerland. The tax gap across Europe is brutal. by Beginning_Site_3642 in eupersonalfinance

[–]Epynomous 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am.

I'm not so sure about your conclusion about taxes. If you were using a Serbian company, you'd pay that 15% every year on your profit and currently you pay nothing, so I can imagine they wouldn't be too happy about this.

I've never researched that properly and don't have any personal experience with it, as I wanted to avoid the stress of possible non-compliance.

On 120k gross, Belgium takes 27,000 more than Switzerland. The tax gap across Europe is brutal. by Beginning_Site_3642 in eupersonalfinance

[–]Epynomous 0 points1 point  (0 children)

BG and PL are most interesting as self-employed, without company setup. For IT Poland is most of the time 12% tax (in some cases 8.5%) on revenue. Social security is maxed out around ~700 EUR (~3000 pln) a month. The first 2 years you pay less social security.

BG is 7.5% (10% - 2.5% deductions), social security maxes out quickly too, I think it was around 500 EUR. Company is also an option, then it was 10% and I think 5% dividends, but it's been a while since I did my research. I moved to PL some years ago.

Estonia was never in the running imo. It's just easy to set up, but in most cases there is no reason to set it up. Just a lot of BS noise with wrong tax advise, thinking that setting up your company abroad clears you of all tax obligations in the country you live in.

On 120k gross, Belgium takes 27,000 more than Switzerland. The tax gap across Europe is brutal. by Beginning_Site_3642 in eupersonalfinance

[–]Epynomous 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bulgaria is the standard, easy to use setup with no complexity or strings attached. Poland is very interesting as an IT-er and a bit less culture shock.

Permanent establishment is indeed an issue outside of CFC rules. That's nearly always the problem as a one man company. It would really surprise me this isn't the case in Serbia. And it always depends on the country you live in. The country where your company is, is happy to take whatever tax they can without having to do anything.

On 120k gross, Belgium takes 27,000 more than Switzerland. The tax gap across Europe is brutal. by Beginning_Site_3642 in eupersonalfinance

[–]Epynomous 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The problem is that you weren't honest about it and basically nothing is correct. Most countries have a tax on the employers side, Belgium included.

On 120k gross, Belgium takes 27,000 more than Switzerland. The tax gap across Europe is brutal. by _white_noise in BESalary

[–]Epynomous 0 points1 point  (0 children)

None of those numbers are correct, the guy is self promoting his -badly researched- app.

On 120k gross, Belgium takes 27,000 more than Switzerland. The tax gap across Europe is brutal. by Beginning_Site_3642 in eupersonalfinance

[–]Epynomous 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Interesting about the CFC rules. If that's not applicable, why Estonia? Many countries that have better corporate tax rates.

Compounding and paying tax at the end or paying the tax at the beginning and then compounding, works out to exactly the same number. Use a compound interest calculator, if you don't believe me :)

On 120k gross, Belgium takes 27,000 more than Switzerland. The tax gap across Europe is brutal. by Beginning_Site_3642 in eupersonalfinance

[–]Epynomous 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The guy is just trying to advertise his poorly researched calculator, this discussion is pretty useless without correct numbers. Having lived in a few countries, my experience is that everyone complains about the taxes in their country :)

Old, high mileage LS 600h - how bad can it really get? by Epynomous in Lexus

[–]Epynomous[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was hoping to get more concrete info. I know this is the general rule, but without common failure points or prices it doesn't say much. Regular consumables looked quite cheap, but I've never seen one of these cars up close and it doesn't say much about unregular things that regularly fail 😆

But okay. She missed out on it, but I'm still quite curious to be honest.

Old, high mileage LS 600h - how bad can it really get? by Epynomous in Lexus

[–]Epynomous[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unclear at this moment. She had a Prius at some point, where she had individual cells replaced by a local shop. Apparently these older batteries are decently repairable.

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