Progressivity of childcare tax policies in Belgium?

Farfan-Portet, Maria-Isabel [UCL] Hindriks, Jean [UCL] Lorant, Vincent [UCL]

In Belgium, families with young dependents receive tax reliefs depending on the type of care used. In this paper we analyze the Federal government policy that allows families using formal childcare to deduct their expenses out of their taxable income. For families using parental and informal care, a tax credit is granted for each child under three years old. We find that tax deduction of childcare expenses is a progressive tax policy among the users of formal day care. On the contrary, when considering all families with young dependents the tax policies for childcare are regressive.