You come across the cadastral income of your house in a document and want to make sense of it: is it a rent, a tax, an indication of its value? This amount has a precise tax meaning. To read it correctly, you need to distinguish what it measures, how it is indexed and what information a sale valuation actually requires.
What cadastral income represents
Cadastral income, often abbreviated to CI, represents the theoretical net annual rental income of a property at the reference date set at 1 January 1975. It is determined by the federal administration. This definition appears on the official Belgium.be portal.
Three words deserve your attention. Annual: the amount covers a year, not a month. Rental: the reference is an income the property could generate, rather than the capital needed to buy it. Theoretical: it is not rent actually received by the owner.
The year 1975 refers to the reference framework of this assessment. It tells you neither the year your house was built nor the date you bought it. A more recently built house can therefore have a CI set within this historical framework.
A document stating the CI does not, on its own, answer the question "how much is my house worth today?". You first need to recognise the nature of the figure before asking what it can tell you.
Why the CI does not give your sale price
A historical rental value for tax purposes and a current sale price answer two different questions. That is the limit that follows from the definition of the CI: this theoretical annual income cannot be converted automatically into a market price. The FPS Finance in fact presents the CI as a notional value used as the basis for certain taxes.
This does not mean the CI has no connection with the property. It means its tax function is not enough to establish what a buyer might offer today. Applying a multiplier to the amount, without analysing the house and its market, would lend an appearance of precision to a valuation that has not been demonstrated.
Illustrative example, unrelated to any client file: you look at a record showing a base CI of 1,200 euros. From this amount you can deduce neither a current rent of 100 euros a month nor a sale price. Dividing it by twelve does not turn a historical reference into a current rental offer. Multiplying it by a chosen number is no more a valuation of the house.
The same reflex applies if you compare two properties. A difference in CI is not, in itself, a price difference to carry over into a negotiation. To compare houses, go back to the properties themselves and to the market evidence available.
Base CI, indexed CI and property tax: identifying the figure
The base CI is the non-indexed reference. The indexed CI results from applying an annual coefficient to this base. Fednot explains this annual indexation. It is not a new valuation of your house's sale price.
| Term | What it refers to |
|---|---|
| Base or non-indexed CI | The theoretical net annual rental income within the historical reference framework. |
| Indexed CI | This base multiplied by the applicable annual coefficient. |
| Property tax (précompte immobilier) | The property tax itself, separate from the two previous amounts. |
In Wallonia, the indexed CI is the basis for calculating property tax. The amount payable also depends on local surcharges and any reductions that apply. It is therefore not the same as the CI. SPW Finances sets out this distinction and how the tax is calculated.
In practice, when you copy a figure into your notes, add its label: "non-indexed CI", "indexed CI" or "property tax". For amounts tied to a year, also note the tax year concerned. That way you avoid comparing a tax base with a bill, or figures relating to different years.
Where can you find the official cadastral income?
To find the information on your own properties, the starting point is MyMinfin. On its page on cadastral data, the FPS Finance explains how to request a partial or full list of your properties, showing the cadastral income. These products are provided free of charge to the owner.
This free provision covers the lists of your own properties described by the FPS. It should not be extended to every request for a cadastral extract, particularly when it concerns a third party's property.
Follow the official instructions to access the service and choose the document that matches your need. Once you have the list, check which property and which references the amount relates to. If you own several properties, do not take a total as if it were the CI of the one house you are thinking of selling.
Keep the document with its label and references. An isolated number, copied into a message or remembered, will be less useful for understanding the file than information whose source can be identified.
Thinking of selling: what should you do with this information?
Prepare two separate documents: the cadastral document that identifies the CI and your latest property tax assessment notice. The first gives the cadastral and tax reference; the second shows the tax charged for the stated tax year. Keeping them together makes them easier to read, provided their roles stay separate.
To prepare a sale valuation, add the information that describes your house today: its documented areas, its condition, its fittings, the work carried out and the documents available. The analysis must then place this property within its market. The CI is part of the information to understand; it does not replace that work.
For a family house, a villa or a character home in the Province of Liège, start from two questions: "is my tax information properly identified?" and "what is my current valuation based on?". The first helps you read your documents. The second lets you prepare a decision to sell.
If your question concerns cadastral data, consult the FPS Finance guidance. If it concerns the Walloon property tax bill, refer to SPW Finances. For your property project, let us talk about your house and what is useful for its valuation.
