Introduced in 2012, the Wijninckx contribution is a special social security contribution intended to build up substantial supplementary pensions for employees and the self-employed. It is also an extra social security contribution payable by the employer or self-employed individual. We explain how this contribution is calculated, why it’s important to pay it on time and what role Sigedis plays.
The Wijninckx contribution is a special social security contribution payable by the employer or manager’s company if, on 1 January of the year preceding the contribution year, the supplementary pension accrued by the employee or manager, converted into an annuity and added to the statutory pension, exceeds the maximum civil service pension, taking into account the previous career.
If this amount is exceeded, a contribution is payable on the share of the pension reserve increase in the year in question relative to the previous year.
The planned increase in the Wijninckx contribution to 6% that was introduced by the previous De Croo government and was to take effect on 1 January 2028 has been withdrawn.
The calculation of the Wijninckx contribution for 2026 is therefore as follows:
12.5% x (pension reserve on 1 January 2026 - pension reserve on 1 January 2025)
The calculation takes account of all pension reserves of the employee or company manager, including those accumulated with other employers or companies. Sigedis manages the second pillar database (DB2P) and collects all information regarding supplementary pensions from pension institutions. It calculates the Wijninckx contribution on the basis of all this data and informs the employer or company if any contribution is payable.
Additionally, the Programme Act of 18 July 2025 provided for the temporary freezing of the indexation of statutory pensions of civil servants and those who have had careers in more than one employment category in excess of a certain threshold.
For the period from 1 July 2025 to 31 December 2029, the Wijninckx threshold will be kept at EUR 99,499.24. Freezing the index means that the pension target in the supplementary pension plans of employees and self-employed persons will stay the same, which will indirectly impact the cost of the supplementary pension plan. For employees and self-employed persons whose pension target flirts with the Wijninckx threshold, the point at which the employer or self-employed person will pay more Wijninckx contributions will come sooner.
Do you have any questions about the increase? If so, contact your regular Employee Benefits Account Manager immediately.
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