Filing income tax as a freelancer: step by step

Step 1: preparation

First close your records for the year. All invoices booked, all costs processed, your bank entries reconciled and your VAT returns complete, including any supplementary return. Your bookkeeping then produces a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet as at 31 December. Also have ready your time records (for the hours criterion), your mileage log, and the annual statements for any wages and benefits. You file before 1 May, or later if you request a postponement or work through an adviser with a deferral arrangement.

Step 2: are you an entrepreneur for income tax?

The return first asks whether you have business profit. If you are an entrepreneur for income tax purposes, you complete the business section and have access to the entrepreneur deductions. If you are not, for example with small-scale side earnings, you declare that income as results from other activities: costs deductible, but no self-employed deduction or SME profit exemption.

Step 3: profit, balance sheet and private withdrawals

In the profit section you transfer your turnover and costs from your bookkeeping, excluding VAT. You also complete the balance sheet: your assets such as business equipment, receivables and your business bank balance, and your liabilities such as payables and VAT still due. You also declare what you withdrew and contributed privately. Mixed costs are corrected here: the private share of your phone costs, the non-deductible part of business meals (the 5,700 euro threshold, or 20% if you opt for the 80% rule), and the addition for private use of a company car.

Step 4: the entrepreneur deductions and exemption

If you meet the 1,225-hour criterion, tick the self-employed deduction (1,200 euros in 2026) and, if you qualify, the starter's deduction of 2,123 euros. The return then applies the 12.70% SME profit exemption automatically. Do not forget the small-scale investment deduction either if you invested more than 2,900 euros during the year: you enter it under the investment schemes.

Step 5: the rest of the return

After the business section comes the regular return: any employment income, your home, personal deductions such as gifts or healthcare costs, and your assets in box 3. If you have a tax partner, certain items can be divided between you; the allocation of the home, for example, often leaves room for optimisation.

Step 6: check, file and pay

Before submitting, check the reconciliation: does the profit in the return match your annual figures, does the balance sheet balance, and is the result explainable compared to last year? After filing you first receive a provisional and later the final assessment. If you have to pay extra, account for tax interest if the assessment is issued after 1 July. If you expect similar profit next year, request a provisional assessment right away so you pay in instalments. And keep the return with all underlying documents: the seven-year retention obligation applies here too.

The deductions to walk through before filing

The difference between a good return and a mediocre one almost always sits in the deductions you forget. Walk through this list before pressing submit.

• The self-employed deduction (1,200 euros in 2026) and, if you recently started, the 2,123 euro starter's deduction. Both require 1,225 hours.
• The 12.7 per cent SME exemption is calculated automatically, but check that it was applied.
• The small-scale investment deduction if you invested more than 2,900 euros in the year.
• Business kilometres in your private car at 0.25 euros, and the partner deduction if your partner helped.
• Disability insurance premium as an income-provision expense, and personal deductions such as gifts and healthcare costs.
• The split with your tax partner: joint items can be allocated to whoever has the highest rate.

Frequently asked questions