Salary in Belgium

newinbelgium wrote:

Hello all,

I received a job offer in Brussels as an electrical engineer for 2850 Euro gross/ month.
I have just finished my Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering, and this will be my first job.

I calculated the nett will be about 1700 Euro/month, is that correct?

Do you think that is a good salary to live in Brussels?

Thanks!

Another thread in which a very similar question was answered by fellow members of this forum.

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 95#2979928

To quote from those answers: This is a pretty accurate calculator for gross - net salary.  http://www.partena-professional.be/fr/c … -brut-net/

Thanks!

Helllo everyone,

I'm negotiating an offer for Brussel.
But I'm not sure how much net salary I should ask for? I'm a computer engineer, I have Master degree and I will work as Software Developement Manager. My total experience is 10 years. I found some inconsistent salary ranges for my position. I would like to hear from someone here if possible?

I would advise you against accepting employment in Belgium. It is extremely xenophobic (racist) country to anyone who is not Dutch or French depending on the location. Don't think that because there are lot of foreigners, immigrants  or because Brussels is the capital of EU then Belgium must be very international and open minded. No sir. No matter what your skin color Belgians will make you feel like unwelcomed guest all the same. So that is my overall advice.
As far as salary is concerned look at Glassdoor.com for salaries. Remember that in Belgium if you make over 60K per year your effective tax rate will be close to 50%. With one dependent it could drop to 45-46% range . If you make over 70K and receive bonuses those 13 and 14 salaries that Belgians like to mention so much they are not considered salaries by tax authorities, but bonuses. These bonuses will be taxed at over 60% rate.
My effective tax rate in Belgium is 61%. Choose any other country in Europe and you will be better off. I calculated that between myself and my wife we overpaid 35,000 EUR to Belgium compared to neighboring countries. Is it worth it ? No way in hell, it is complete waste of your time and money.

I find Belgium to be the best at several things: moderate-climate, proximity to other countries, nice castles and cheap wine prices. Apartment rent is one of the lowest in Western EU if you find landlord who wants to rent to suspicious foreigner. As all foreigners are suspicious to Belgians you will have heck of a time to find a place. Even RE agents would not want to deal with you , because they know how racist landlords and neighbors are and would not want to waste their time showing you apartments.
Good luck.

I would tend to agree with the two major sentiments expressed in your post. It's like I've been knocking my head against a brick wall in both regards for the past how-many-years.