THE ARTIST STATUT IN 15 QUESTIONS

I. Social Status

A. What is social protection?

The social security protects you against a number of social risks. If your
income ceases or falls due to a specific reason (illness, disability, old age,
unemployment, etc), social security awards a replacement income. Other
risks or situations are separate from the income, but do incur extra costs
(sickness costs and child maintenance). Subsidies and extra allowances are
available for this.

Certain obligations are linked to these rights: you must pay social
contributions, depending on your income and social status (= employee, self-
employed or civil servant). For employees, the contributions are partially
paid by the employer and partially paid by the employee himself or herself.
We therefore speak of employee and employer contributions. The
employer contributions are paid by the employer on top of the gross wage to
the National Office of Social Security (NOSS). This is at least 32.44% of the
gross wage for white-collar workers. The employer also has to deduct the
employee contributions from the gross wage and pay it to the NOSS.
These employee contributions form 13.07% of the gross wage.
Self-employed persons pay 22% of the net business income per quarter (=
receipts - costs).

B. What is the artist status?

There is no separate status for artists! There are however a number of

specific beneficial rules, which can make it easier for artists to build up social
security (e.g. child allowance, pension, unemployment benefit, holiday pay,
etc.). These rules are called the social status for artists.

The basic principle is that “everyone who provides an artistic service and/or
produces artistic works, commissioned by a natural person or a legal body
and for payment of a wage” has the status of employee. The person that
pays you is the employer. So if you are paid for artistic commissioned work,
the social status of artist is applicable for you,
unless you receive an allowance for expenses. An expense allowance is the
repayment of the expenses incurred by you and so is not a wage (see
question 1.8). As an artist you have the option to register yourself as self-
employed on the condition that you are socio-economically independent.

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Author:  www.kunstenloket.be                                                                            Latest update:  September 2010 
  
 

C. What is an artistic service/work in the social status context?

The legal definition is: “The creation and/or execution or interpretation of

artistic works in the audio-visual and expressive arts, in music, literature,
performances, theatre and choreography”. In short, every activity whereby
the emphasis is on the artistic. No distinction is made between creative and
performance activities. There is also no distinction made between
amateur/professional and regular/occasional.

If you are unsure if your service or work is artistic or not, you can request
advice from the Artists’ Commission, Waterloolaan 77, 1000 Brussels,
info@articomm.be.

D. What benefits does the social status of artist offer?

In order to promote the employment of artists in the employee regime, there

is a specific reduction of social security contributions. EUR 55.67 of the gross
daily wage (on condition that the minimum gross wage amounts to EUR
64,08 / day) or EUR 7.33 of the gross hourly wage (on condition that the
minimum gross hourly wage amounts to EUR 8,43 / hour) is exempt from
employer contributions for the NOSS. This exemption is applicable for every
employment. If the artist works for different employers on the same day,
then every employer is entitled to this exemption. Take note! In some
sectors there are collective labour agreements (CLAs) drawn up by the trade
unions and employees in which higher minimum wages are set, e.g. CLA
Music.

E. Can I set myself up as self-employed?

Yes, you can choose to have the status of self-employed. You then have to
demonstrate that you are “socio-economically independent”. This is assessed
on the basis of a number of factual indicators such as a financial plan,
relevant education and/or experience, investments, personnel in service,
works for various customers, etc.

F. What is a self-employed declaration?

In order to prevent your self-employed status later being drawn into

uncertainty, you can request a self-employed declaration from the Artists’
Commission
(http://www.rsvzinasti.fgov.be/nl/selfemployed/artist_declaration.htm).

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This is not an obligation, but if this certificate is awarded after investigation,
it does offer an additional guarantee for being regarded as “self-employed”
for 2 years (extendable by simple request) and for the activities stated on
the declaration.

G. What is the “Sociaal Bureau voor Kunstenaars”?

If you always fulfil short contracts for various customers (e.g. an actor who
performs for multiple theatre groups), you can make use of a “Sociaal
Bureau voor Kunstenaars” (Social Agency for Artists) (SBK).
These agencies act as specific temporary offices for the artistic sector. If you
work as an artist via an SBK, you must ask the customer to pay the
allowance to the SBK. The SBK fulfils the role of employer. The SBK ensures
that all social registrations and contributions are arranged and that you, as
an employee, are paid a wage. Take note! An SBK is not a registration office.

H. What is the small allowance ruling for artists?

The small allowance ruling is a fixed expense allowance. If you comply with
the legal requirements, you can receive a small allowance, which is exempt
from social contributions and fiscal taxes. The requirements are:

• provide an artistic service or make an artistic work;

• the payment cannot amount to more than EUR 111,74 per day
per customer;
• the total amount of payments awarded within the small
allowance ruling may not be more
than EUR 2234,73 per year;
• the number of days for which the small allowance ruling can be
applied may not be more than
30 days per year;
• the number of consecutive days for which the small allowance
can be applied per customer
may not be more than 7 days;
• completion of the artist card (when available); you can currently
work with the declaration on
trust.
(http://www.kunstenloket.be/files/upload/document/file/declarati
de_of_intent_2010.pdf)

Note! The “small allowance” is an all-in expense payment. This means that
no other expense allowances can be paid (e.g. kilometre allowance, etc.).

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Author:  www.kunstenloket.be                                                                            Latest update:  September 2010 
  
 
Other expense allowances are the real expense allowance whereby expenses
must be proven (e.g. with invoices, purchase receipts, etc.).
In the context of voluntary work you can be remunerated with a fixed
volunteering allowance (maximum EUR 30,22 / day, maximum EUR 1208,72
/ year).

II. Unemployment and artistic activity

There are specific rules applicable for artists in the unemployment ruling.

A. What is the cachet ruling?

In order to be entitled to receive benefits, you must prove that you have
been in paid employment for a number of days in a certain reference period.
There is the “cachet ruling” for podium artists. Instead of taking the number
of days worked into account, the gross wage is converted into equivalent
days. Specifically, the number of days worked is calculated by dividing the
gross wage by a reference wage of EUR 36,94.

B. May I practise an artistic activity during the unemployment?

You can practise an unpaid artistic activity in the context of an artistic

education or as a hobby (e.g. write a book, make a sculpture, act in an
amateur dramatics group). You can perform voluntary work, as long as you
have first requested permission from the director of the
unemployment agency. The new law for volunteers provides that if no
decision is made by the NEO (National Employment Office) within two weeks,
you are no longer obliged to wait for the permission and can perform the
activities while retaining the allowances. If you perform services in the
context of the small allowance ruling, you lose your benefits for those days.

C. Can I retain my benefit if I want to commercialise an artistic

activity?

Yes, on the condition that it is a sideline. If you are a creative artist, you only
have to indicate the following activities on your social security card:
mandatory presence at an exhibition, standing in for sales at an exhibition,
recording audio-visual works, receiving a wage. Expressive artists must
always indicate paid days of activity on the control card. You lose the
right to unemployment benefits for those days.

D. Is my allowance reduced if I commercialise my artistic activity?

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Author:  www.kunstenloket.be                                                                            Latest update:  September 2010 
  
 
No, on the condition that your net taxable income from the artistic activity
(other than a wage as an employee or official), is not greater than EUR
3949,92 on an annual basis. If you earn more, your allowance is reduced.

E. Do I have to indicate commercial activities to the NEO (National

Employment Office)?

If you want to commercialise artistic services as an artist, you must indicate

this on the form C1 -Artist.
(http://www.kunstenloket.be/files/upload/document/file/C1-artiest.pdf)

F. What is the beneficial ruling?

Your allowance is normally reduced in proportion to the duration of

unemployment.
Artist-employees in a main profession, who are only employed with short
term contracts (= less than 3 months), can however apply for the beneficial
ruling. The amount of your allowance will not be reduced the following year.
You can request this from the payment institution (= trade union or welfare
fund).

G. Can I refuse non-artistic job offers?

If you can demonstrate that you have worked 156 “artistic” days as an artist
/ employee as your main profession in the previous 18 months, you may
refuse any non-artistic employment offer. If you cannot demonstrate 156
“artistic” working days, intellectual development, physical suitability and the
risk that the artistic skills will be reduced are taken into account for every
non-artistic offer of employment. The National Employment Office will assess
if there is any doubt about the suitable character of an employment.

III. Further questions?

If you have further questions after having read this information, please
contact the Kunstenloket. You can find a great deal of information about
legal and business aspects of the artistic sector on our website.
You will also find an overview of the planned consultations and info sessions.

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Author:  www.kunstenloket.be                                                                            Latest update:  September 2010