A CBA 90 bonus in Belgium is a collective wage bonus you pay when a group target, set in advance and uncertain, is reached. In 2026 it stays outside ordinary NSSO contributions up to € 4,255 gross and is tax-free up to € 3,701 net per employee. You pay a 33% special contribution, the employee 13.07%.
What is the maximum CBA 90 bonus in 2026?
Collective bargaining agreement (CBA) No. 90 of the National Labour Council governs non-recurring result-related benefits. In practice they are called the wage bonus or CBA 90 bonus. The advantage lies in the contributions: no ordinary NSSO contributions for employer or employee and no withholding tax, as long as you stay under the cap.
| Item | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Gross maximum without ordinary NSSO, per employee per calendar year | € 4,255 |
| Tax-free net amount, per employee per calendar year | € 3,701 |
| Special contribution paid by the employer | 33% |
| Solidarity contribution paid by the employee | 13.07% |
| For comparison: gross maximum in 2025 | € 4,164 |
The gross cap includes the employee's solidarity contribution. Someone who receives the maximum keeps, after that contribution, slightly less than the tax-free net amount, and so pays no tax. The cap applies per employee, per employer and per calendar year of payment, not per plan.
If you pay more than the cap, the part above it is ordinary pay. You pay the normal NSSO contributions on it and deduct withholding tax. An employer that starts a collective redundancy procedure with closure of the business cannot use a CBA 90 plan for the site concerned.
Choosing between a wage bonus and a profit premium? A profit premium depends on the profit of the financial year and follows different rules. The difference is explained in our blog on the profit premium for employees.
Calculating a CBA 90 bonus: worked example for a haulage company
A haulage company in East Flanders has 14 employees: 12 full-time and 2 working 4/5. The plan covers calendar year 2027. The target: the total repair cost of damage to lorries and trailers stays below 45,000 euros. In 2026 it was 61,000 euros, so the result is not certain. Everyone who works towards the target receives up to 1,800 euros gross, pro rata to the days worked. Anyone with less than 6 months of service on 31 December 2027 is not included.
Per full-time employee
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross bonus | 1,800.00 euros |
| Employee solidarity contribution (13.07%) | 235.26 euros |
| Net for the employee | 1,564.74 euros |
| Employer special contribution (33%) | 594.00 euros |
| Cost to the employer | 2,394.00 euros |
Per employee working 4/5
The bonus goes pro rata to 1,440 euros gross. The employee pays 188.21 euros solidarity contribution and keeps 1,251.79 euros. You pay 475.20 euros special contribution, 1,915.20 euros in total.
For the whole team
The gross bonuses add up to 24,480 euros (12 x 1,800 plus 2 x 1,440). On that you pay 8,078.40 euros special contribution. The total cost is 32,558.40 euros. The employees keep 21,280.46 euros net between them.
Compare with an ordinary bonus. If you pay the same 1,800 euros as a gross bonus or pay rise, you pay the ordinary employer contributions and deduct withholding tax on the balance. The employee keeps clearly less and you pay more. A pay rise comes back every year. A wage bonus is only paid when the result is there, and you can adjust the plan each period.
Someone who receives the maximum
A bonus of € 4,255 gross gives the employee 3,698.87 euros net after 556.13 euros solidarity contribution. That stays below the tax-free amount of € 3,701. You pay 1,404.15 euros special contribution, or 5,659.15 euros in total.
For the pro rata calculation you count days worked, not full months. Maternity leave, statutory holiday days, public holidays and replacement days must be treated as days worked. Other absences, such as the first month of sickness, may be treated the same way if the plan says so. You may also pay everyone a fixed amount, regardless of working pattern.
Which targets are allowed? Examples by sector
The target must be a collective result that you measure in figures, prove with documents (annual accounts, VAT return, claims files, customer survey) and whose outcome is uncertain. An effort by the employees is not a result. That is where most plans go wrong.
| Sector | Target that works | Target the FPS Employment rejects |
|---|---|---|
| Transport | The repair cost of damage to the fleet stays below a fixed amount in euros | Orders are delivered within 2 days on average |
| Construction | No more than 1 workplace accident with time off in the reference period | 80% of workers attend a safety training |
| Hospitality | The average customer score across all surveys is at least 8 out of 10 | Staff contact at least 200 customers |
| Wholesale | Turnover or gross margin reaches a fixed amount in euros | The warehouse makes fewer order-picking errors |
The targets on the right describe what employees must do, not what the business achieves. Fast delivery or training helps to reach a result, but is not a result in itself. Always state the result of the previous period in the plan. That shows the target is uncertain. If your target is lower than last year, explain why it will still not be reached automatically.
Four more rules:
- Collective. No individual targets. A separate target per department, job or shop is allowed if each group has at least 2 employees.
- No sliding scale from zero. You may pay a bonus for partial achievement, for example at 80%, provided that threshold is also uncertain. A bonus per percentage point achieved is not allowed.
- No share price. Targets linked to the share price are excluded.
- Mobility only with a cycling allowance. A mobility target is only allowed if you pay a cycling allowance to employees who cycle to work. How that works is explained in our blog on the employer's bicycle allowance.
Filing a CBA 90 bonus plan without a union delegation: step by step
Most SMEs have no union delegation. You then use an accession deed, which you draft and file online. If there is a union delegation for the group concerned, you conclude a CBA using the mandatory model and file it with the registry: electronically through the FPS Employment's Transfer of documents application, with qualified electronic signatures, or on paper by post.
- Define the group. All employees or a group defined objectively, for example all drivers and planners. Do not name anyone and do not exclude anyone based on contract length or working pattern.
- Set the target and the reference period. At least 3 months. Add the result of the previous period.
- Set the amount and the calculation. A fixed amount or pro rata to days worked, with the periods treated as worked and any seniority condition.
- Draft the accession deed on bonusplannen.be. You log in with eID, itsme or a recognised European identification. Since 1 June 2026 the FPS Employment no longer accepts paper accession deeds.
- Give the draft to every employee concerned. For 15 calendar days you keep a comments register available. Employees with an email address may receive the draft and respond by email.
- Deal with the comments. Without comments, you sign the register with that statement. With comments, you send the register to the regional office of the Social Law Inspectorate, which attempts conciliation within 30 days.
- Sign and file on bonusplannen.be, before 1/3 of the reference period has passed.
- Post a notice that the plan has been filed and sent to the joint committee.
When must you file the CBA 90 bonus plan? The deadline per reference period
The registry looks at the reference period as it actually runs. If you set an annual plan with quarterly targets, it counts as four reference periods of three months, and the deadline of the first quarter applies.
| Reference period | Filing deadline |
|---|---|
| Calendar year 2027 (1 January to 31 December) | 30 April 2027 |
| First quarter of 2027, or an annual plan with quarterly targets | 31 January 2027 |
| Any other period | Before 1/3 of it has passed |
Count backwards. The comments period of 15 calendar days must be over before you file. To have a 2027 plan ready in time, start in December or January with the target and last year's figures.
After filing: review, payment and information sheet
Review. The registry checks admissibility and forwards a plan filed online to the joint committee (JC) within 14 days on average. The JC decides within 2 months. If it does not, the competent official can decide within 1 month. If neither decides, the plan is approved. After a provisional rejection you have 1 month to amend the points concerned. You then tell the employees whether the plan was approved, amended or rejected.
Payment. You pay only after the reference period ends, in money, in the way and at the time stated in the plan. Advances on a CBA 90 bonus are not allowed. In the DmfA, your payroll provider declares the bonus in the quarter of payment, with worker code 888. If the employee has already left, the bonus goes into the return for their last quarter.
Information sheet. After the reference period, each employee concerned receives an individual information sheet with the details required by Article 19 of CBA No. 90.
Mistakes that make a CBA 90 bonus plan invalid
- An effort as a target. Attending training, calling customers or delivering on time: the FPS Employment rejects it.
- Filing late. After 1/3 of the reference period, the plan is no longer valid for that period.
- Monthly targets. A reference period shorter than 3 months is not possible, so no monthly bonus either.
- A target that is certain. Without the previous result in the plan, the committee cannot check that the target is uncertain.
- Applying pro rata twice. The maximum applies to everyone. If you first reduce it for part-timers and then apply pro rata to days worked again, the plan breaches CBA No. 90.
- Not tracking the cap. Two plans in the same year are added together. Anything above € 4,255 is ordinary pay.
What Business Centrum does for you
Business Centrum helps you draft the plan: we test the target against the practice of the FPS Employment, calculate in advance what the bonus will cost and watch the filing deadline. After the reference period, your payroll calculates the bonuses pro rata, together with Acerta, and we declare them correctly in the DmfA. The figures for the target, such as absence and accidents per department, come from our workforce analysis.