Antwerp city tax 2026: how much per person per night, and how do you file it?

Short answer: the city tax in Antwerp is €3.20 per tourist per night in room-based accommodation such as a B&B, guest room, hotel or holiday home, and €1.20 in pitch-based accommodation such as a campsite (both excluding VAT, as the city states). Children under 12 are exempt. You file a return every quarter, within 14 days after the quarter ends, through the city's e-loket. That is set out in the tax regulation for assessment years 2026 to 2031, approved by the city council on 15 December 2025.

Below you'll find what that means in practice: who the tax applies to, how to calculate it, how the return and payment work, and how to pass the amount on to your guests correctly without paying it out of your own margin.

Who pays the Antwerp city tax?

The city levies the tax on every overnight stay in accommodation for tourists that is offered on the tourist market or registered with Toerisme Vlaanderen (the Flemish tourism agency). The city itself lists guest rooms, B&Bs, hotels, holiday lodgings, holiday homes and campsites as examples. If you rent out a room or a home in Antwerp through your own website, Booking.com or Airbnb, it applies to you.

Important: for the city, a tourist is anyone staying outside their everyday environment. That covers not only holidaymakers but also business travellers. A consultant staying three nights for a job at the port pays tourist tax just the same.

How much is it, and how do you calculate it?

Antwerp charges per person per night, not per room. That is a key difference with Brussels, which has charged per room since 2026 (see the Brussels city tax).

Two examples for a B&B:

• A couple, three nights: 2 people × 3 nights × €3.20 = €19.20.
• A family with two parents, a child of 8 and a teenager of 14, two nights: the 8-year-old is exempt, the teenager is not. 3 people × 2 nights × €3.20 = €19.20.

That second example is where it often goes wrong. The threshold is 12 years, not 18. A 14-year-old counts in Antwerp. Ghent works differently: there you pay per adult from 18 (Ghent's rates are in our article on handling tourist tax in your B&B).

There is one further exemption, for stays recognised under Toerisme voor Allen (Tourism for All, a Flemish decree of 18 July 2003). For an ordinary B&B or holiday home it usually does not apply.

The return: quarterly, within 14 days

Antwerp requires a return every quarter. After each quarter you report the total number of overnight stays in that quarter, split between tourists under 12 and over 12.

In practice that means four returns a year:

• January to March: return by 14 April
• April to June: return by 14 July
• July to September: return by 14 October
• October to December: return by 14 January

You file through the City of Antwerp e-loket (online counter). You need your company number (ondernemingsnummer) for it. If you don't have one, ask the city's business tax department how to file in your situation.

If you don't file, or don't file correctly and on time, the city can assess the tax itself with a surcharge. It can also check on site whether your return is correct. So it pays to keep track of your overnight stays per quarter, rather than piecing them together from your calendar afterwards.

Payment: a tax assessment every quarter

You don't pay when you file. After each quarter you receive a tax assessment with the bank account number and a structured payment reference. You pay no later than two months after it is sent. If you disagree with the amount, you can lodge an objection once you have received it.

How to pass the city tax on to your guests

You don't pay the tax out of your own pocket: you pass it on to the guest. Two approaches are the most common.

1. As a separate line on the bill. The guest pays your nightly rate plus €3.20 per person per night. It's the most transparent option, and the amount adjusts automatically when a guest is added or drops out.

2. Included in your rate. You publish a price that already contains the tax. Simple for the guest, but because Antwerp charges per person, a fixed mark-up stops being correct as soon as occupancy changes. If you price per room, you pay for the extra guest yourself.

If you rent through Airbnb, note that Airbnb does not collect tourist tax for you in Belgium. You charge it and you file the return. How to set that up on Airbnb and Booking.com is explained in Airbnb and city tax in Belgium.

Setting it up in BedFlow PMS

In BedFlow PMS you set up the tourist tax once, in your property's tax set (Settings → Taxes): a line of the type Tourist tax, calculation € per person per night, rate 3.20. Your website, bookings, quotes and invoices then all use the same amount. On the invoice, the tourist tax appears as a separate line at 0% VAT, so your accountant recognises it as a pass-through item. If you prefer to include the tax in your rate, switch on Incl. in room price?. The full walkthrough is in the guide on VAT and tourist tax.

One thing to watch: BedFlow PMS counts tourist tax per adult, and children are not counted. If a family books a teenager aged 12 to 17 as a child, add those nights to your Antwerp return yourself and charge them to the guest.

For your quarterly return, Management → Insights → Statistics shows with the Q1 to Q4 buttons how much tourist tax you charged in that quarter. Divide that amount by €3.20 and you have the number of taxed overnight stays: a handy check before you fill in the e-loket.

Questions for the city

The information on the city's website is for guidance; the official regulation applies. If you're unsure about your situation, contact the City of Antwerp business tax department at bedrijfsbelasting@antwerpen.be or +32 3 338 65 44 (weekdays 8:30 to 16:30). The current rate and the regulation are on antwerpen.be.

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