Cooperatives and partnerships - Belgium
Cooperative Companies and Partnerships in Belgium
Belgian law gives two or more founders four routes: a cooperative company (CV/SC), a general partnership (VOF/SNC), a limited partnership (CommV/SComm), or a maatschap with no legal personality. This page is about forming one of these, not about Belgium's cooperative sector or its listed cooperative groups.
- Four forms: CV/SC, VOF/SNC, CommV/SComm, maatschap
- 3 founders for a CV, 2 for the others
- No minimum capital in any of the four
- State costs from EUR 111.50 (KBO, 2026)
Four Ways to Structure Two or More Founders in Belgium
Belgian law gives two or more founders four routes: a cooperative company (CV/SC), a general partnership (VOF/SNC), a limited partnership (CommV/SComm), or a maatschap with no legal personality. None of the four is Belgium's cooperative sector. This page forms companies, inside our Company Registration Belgium: Company Types in Belgium overview.
Every form registers as an entreprise in the KBO/BCE (Art. I.1, Code of Economic Law). Only three file a constitutive deed: the CV needs a notary (Art. 6:12 CSA), the VOF/SNC and CommV/SComm a private deed at the enterprise-court registry, and the maatschap nothing unless the founders choose a notarial contract. That difference sets most of what Belgium charges.
What We Handle
Five pieces of work, and an honest answer when none of the four forms fits.
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Cooperative Formation
The CV/SC purpose test, the three-founder minimum, the financial plan handed to the notary, the notarial deed, filing and KBO/BCE registration.
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Partnership Formation
A VOF/SNC or CommV/SComm: two founders minimum, a private-deed partnership agreement, filing at the enterprise-court registry.
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Maatschap Formation
A private or notarial contract for founders who want no legal personality, plus KBO/BCE registration as an entreprise, no registry filing.
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Choosing the Right Form
An honest comparison of all four, including telling you plainly when none of them fits your plan.
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Professional Card Coordination
For a non-EEA founder who will actively manage or direct the business, arranged before KBO registration.
Which of the Four Forms Fits Your Plan
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Cooperative (CV/SC)
A genuine cooperative purpose serving members or interested third parties, at least three founders, variable membership, and the right to resign at the company's expense (Arts. 6:1, 6:3, 6:120 CSA).
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General Partnership (VOF/SNC)
Two founders, full joint and unlimited liability for both, the simplest route: no notary, no minimum capital (Art. 4:22 al. 2 CSA).
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Limited Partnership (CommV/SComm)
One active general partner carrying full liability, plus one or more partners who must stay hands-off or lose that protection (Art. 4:25 CSA).
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Maatschap
No legal personality, used for family and succession planning, and no liability protection: the partners' own assets answer for the debts (Arts. 4:1, 4:14 CSA).
Comparing the Four Forms at a Glance
No page in the market we reviewed puts all four Belgian forms for two or more founders side by side.
| Form | Founders | Capital | Deed | Liability | NBB filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CV/SC | 3 minimum, on pain of nullity | No minimum, sufficient own funds required | Notarial | Limited to the contribution | Always required |
| VOF/SNC | 2 minimum | No minimum | Private deed | Unlimited, joint for all partners | Only if large and a partner is a legal person |
| CommV/SComm | 2 minimum, one general and one limited | No minimum | Private deed | General partner unlimited; limited partner capped unless they manage | Same rule as VOF/SNC |
| Maatschap | 2 minimum | No minimum, no financial plan | Private or notarial, no registry filing | Personal and unlimited for all partners | Not applicable, no legal personality |
How We Set It Up: Process and Timeline
- Test the purpose, count the founders. A cooperative purpose with three or more founders points to a CV; two founders wanting joint control point to a VOF; one active and one hands-off partner point to a CommV; no legal personality wanted points to a maatschap.
- Name and code check. The KBO phonetic search, a BOIP trade-mark check, and the NACE-BEL activity codes, on our side, usually the same week.
- Draft the file. A financial plan for a CV, handed to the notary, seven statutory items; a private partnership agreement for a VOF or CommV, no notary, no financial plan; or a private or notarial contract for a maatschap.
- Bank account. Only a CV's cash contributions go to a blocked special account with an EEA credit institution (Art. 6:10 CSA); the other three routes need none, and no authority publishes a service level for opening one.
- Sign and file. The CV's notarial deed, all shareholders present or by proxy (Art. 6:12 CSA); or the VOF/CommV's private deed via e-greffe; or, for a maatschap, nothing filed and no Moniteur publication at all.
- Register and activate. KBO/BCE registration for all four forms, VAT activation through form 604A, and social insurance fund affiliation.
- UBO filing. Within 30 days of incorporation, with an annual confirmation afterward even where nothing has changed.
Not Sure Which of the Four Forms Is Right for You?
Tell us the plan and we will map it against the purpose test and the liability rules first.
Documents You'll Need, and What Belgium Charges
What the state or the notarial federation charges, our own fee never appears here.
- Identity documents for every founder, partner, manager or director.
- Proof of address for each of them.
- For a corporate founder: a recent register extract and its articles.
- A proxy where someone signs on your behalf, with the deed's required particulars.
- A Belgian registered-office address.
- Bank documents, including the CV's blocked account for cash contributions.
- For a non-EEA founder who will actively manage: a professional card, before KBO registration.
| What Belgium charges | Amount | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| KBO/BCE registration, one establishment unit | EUR 111.50 (2026) | All four routes |
| Moniteur belge, incorporation, electronic filing | EUR 236.50 excl. VAT, EUR 286.17 incl. | CV/SC and VOF/CommV, electronic route needs a Belgian eID |
| Moniteur belge, incorporation, paper filing | EUR 292.90 excl. VAT, EUR 354.41 incl. | CV/SC and VOF/CommV without a Belgian eID |
| Moniteur belge, amending deed | EUR 171.70 excl. VAT, EUR 207.76 incl. | Any later change, not an incorporation figure |
| Fixed notarial fee, BV/SRL model-deed route | EUR 217 plus EUR 298, excl. VAT | Documented for the BV/SRL route only; unconfirmed for a CV; VOF/CommV and a private-deed maatschap carry no notarial fee at all |
| NBB filing of annual accounts, full model, 2026 | EUR 379.50 XBRL, EUR 449.70 PDF | CV/SC always; VOF/SNC and CommV/SComm only if large and a partner is a legal person |
| Annual company contribution | EUR 399.73 or EUR 998.47 (2025 figures) | Any company or partnership liable to Belgian corporate or non-resident tax; not owed by a maatschap |
The state-only arithmetic: a CV on the electronic route pays KBO 111.50 plus Moniteur 236.50, and a notarial fee not yet confirmed for this form. A VOF or CommV filed by a Belgian-eID holder pays the same KBO and Moniteur lines with no notarial line at all. A maatschap that skips legal personality pays KBO 111.50 only, with no Moniteur line and no notarial line. No competitor page we reviewed sets this ladder out.
Source: KBO/BCE fee schedule (FPS Economy), Moniteur belge tariffs (Official Gazette), Fednot notarial tariff, RSVZ/INASTI contribution rule.
Problems We Solve
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Is the 2024 Recognition Regime Even Usable Yet?
Art. 8:4 CSA has pointed to the Law of 3 May 2024 since 21 June 2024, but that law leaves its own entry into force and its recognition conditions to royal decrees not yet published. We state the law and name the gap, we do not promise a procedure, a fee or a timeline.
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The Dividend Exemption Is Repealed, Not a Footnote
The old exemption for a recognised cooperative's dividends (Art. 21 al. 1, 6° CIR 92) now reads "(...)" in the consolidated Code. A page ranking for this keyword still states it; we correct the record.
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The CommV Management Trap
A limited partner who performs any act of management loses that status and becomes jointly liable on the same footing as a general partner, for every commitment of the company (Art. 4:25 §2 CSA). It is the single sharpest fact for anyone weighing a CommV.
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Does Your Partnership Have to Publish Its Accounts?
Not if it is small, or if no partner is a legal person, under the National Bank's own rule. A widely read notarial-federation page states the opposite for the SComm; the NBB governs, and this page follows it.
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The Maatschap Protection Myth
It gives no liability protection at all: the partners' own assets answer for the company's debts (Arts. 4:1, 4:14 CSA). Family-asset and succession planning is what it is actually for.
Why Work With Us
Maarten De Wilde leads formation and structuring: twelve years on Belgian company files, eight of them on a Brussels notarial office's company-law desk. In practice, a cooperative file stalls most often on the purpose test or an unclear financial plan, and a CommV file stalls on a limited partner who wants a say in running the business, both worth settling before the notary appointment. We are not the notary, and we do not promise recognition, a bank account, or a timeline the statute itself does not give.
Related Services
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a foreigner set up a cooperative or a partnership in Belgium?
Nothing in the Companies and Associations Code requires a Belgian-resident founder; an officer domiciled abroad is deemed to elect domicile at the statutory seat for service of process. A non-EEA founder who will actively run the business as a partner, manager or director needs a professional card before KBO registration, a separate, regional procedure we coordinate but do not decide.
What is the real difference between a CV and a BV in Belgium?
A CV needs a genuine cooperative purpose and at least three founders (Arts. 6:1, 6:3 CSA), with variable membership and a right to resign at the company's expense (Art. 6:120 CSA). A BV/SRL, named here for comparison only, has no purpose test and no founder minimum. Which one fits depends on whether you actually want cooperative membership or just limited liability.
Can I still use a cooperative as a flexible holding vehicle, the way a CVBA used to work?
No. The 2019 Code reserved the CV to genuine cooperatives, and its shares may not be admitted to trading on any regulated or unregulated market (Art. 6:1 §2 CSA). For a holding structure, see Company Registration Belgium: Holding Company in Belgium.
What does recognition as a cooperative actually give me?
The Art. 215 reduced-rate carve-outs and the Art. 264 withholding exemption, both live. The recognition procedure itself, under the Law of 3 May 2024, has its conditions and its own entry into force left to a royal decree not yet published (Arts. 24, 25, 28 of that law): no fee, timeline or dividend percentage can be stated yet.
Is it true that a recognised cooperative's dividends are tax-exempt?
No. The old exemption (Art. 21 al. 1, 6° CIR 92) is repealed and now reads "(...)" in the consolidated Code for income 2025. A page still ranking for this keyword states the old exemption as current; this page corrects the record.
What happens if a limited partner in a CommV takes a management decision?
He loses limited status and becomes jointly liable on the same footing as a general partner, for all the company's commitments, not just the one he took part in (Art. 4:25 §2 CSA). It is the single sharpest fact for anyone weighing a CommV.
Does a Belgian partnership have to publish its accounts?
Not if it is small, or if no partner is a legal person, under the National Bank's own filing rule. A widely read notarial-federation page states the opposite for the SComm specifically; the NBB's rule governs, and this page follows it rather than repeat the error.
Is a VOF or a CommV taxed like a company or like its partners?
Like a company. Both have legal personality and are resident companies under Art. 179 CIR 92, taxed at the standard 25%, or 20% on the first EUR 100,000 for a small company. Only the maatschap is tax-transparent, with partners taxed directly under Art. 29 §1 CIR 92.
What is a maatschap used for, and does it protect my personal assets?
Family-asset and succession planning. It gives no liability protection at all: the partners' own assets answer for the company's debts (Art. 4:14 CSA, applied via Art. 4:1). It has no minimum capital and no financial plan, and the deed can be private or notarial.
How many founders does a cooperative need in Belgium? What about a VOF or a CommV?
Three for a CV, on pain of nullity (Art. 6:3 CSA). Two for a VOF or a CommV, and two for a maatschap, one of whom in a CommV must be a general partner carrying full liability.
Does a Belgian cooperative need minimum capital?
No, but Art. 6:4 CSA requires sufficient initial own funds in light of the projected activity, and Art. 6:5 CSA requires a financial plan with seven statutory items, kept by the notary and not filed.
How much does it cost to register a company in Belgium?
State charges only, our own fee never appears here: KBO EUR 111.50 for all four routes, Moniteur belge EUR 236.50 excluding VAT for an electronic filing (2026) for the CV and the VOF/CommV, and no Moniteur line at all for a maatschap. See the state-cost table above for the full ladder.
What are the new rules in Belgium for 2026?
For this page: the Moniteur belge tariffs applicable to filings from 1 March 2026, used throughout the state-cost table above. Broader 2026 tax changes affecting companies generally are named, not detailed here: see our tax guides for those.
Four Routes, One Purpose Test
Send us the founder count and the purpose, and we will tell you which of the four actually fits. Start with a formation plan for the form that suits your plan.