📅 Last updated: 8 May 2026
· 🏷 Topic: Trade Republic, neobroker, low fees
· 🇧🇪 For: Belgian retail investors
Trade Republic is a German neobroker (since 2019), known for very low fees and a mobile-first approach. For Belgian investors, the most “low-cost” alternative — but the full tax admin sits with you.
Key facts
- Type: German neobroker (mobile-first)
- Regulation: BaFin (Germany)
- Protection scheme: German EdB scheme — €100,000 cash per depositor; separate German investor-protection scheme up to €20,000 for securities in case of broker insolvency. Securities themselves are held in custody (HSBC Germany) and remain your property.
- Interface: NL + FR + EN + more
- Mobile app + web platform: yes — web version available at traderepublic.com (accounts can be opened in the app or on desktop), but the experience is mobile-first and the app offers the most complete functionality.
- Savings account: yes — 2% p.a. on uninvested cash (as of May 2026; rate follows ECB policy and has declined from a 2023/2024 peak of ~4%).
Fees
- €1 per transaction flat fee for stocks, ETFs, derivatives.
- Monthly contributions via savings plan (Sparpläne): commission-free.
- No TOB withholding — you do it yourself.
Order routing & PFOF: Trade Republic routes orders through Lang & Schwarz Exchange. Payment-for-order-flow (PFOF) for Belgian clients has been prohibited since 28 March 2024 under the EU MiFIR amendments. Germany’s temporary exemption applies only to German clients, not Belgian ones. The full EU-wide ban takes effect on 30 June 2026. For Belgian investors, PFOF-related conflict of interest is therefore no longer an active concern.
Tax work for you
| Status | |
|---|---|
| TOB | ❌ You file yourself via MyMinfin |
| Withholding tax on dividends | ❌ You file yourself |
| Belgian tax certificate | ❌ None |
| New CGT 2026 | ❌ You file yourself |
| NBB CAP declaration | ✅ Mandatory |
The full tax admin sits with you. For those who don’t do this → significant fines.
Strengths
- Cheapest option for Belgian investors
- Nice mobile interface
- Savings account with interest (2% p.a. as of May 2026; ECB-sensitive — peaked ~4% in 2023/2024)
- Monthly savings plans for consistent investing
Weaknesses
- ❌ Full tax admin sits with you
- ⚠️ Mobile-first experience — a web version exists (traderepublic.com), but the app remains the most complete interface
- ❌ Tax filing requires extra time per year
- ❌ No Belgian customer support
For whom?
- ✅ Tech-savvy investors who don’t mind admin
- ✅ People who want to invest very small amounts frequently (€10/week feasible)
- ✅ Those who value the high interest on savings
Not for:
– ❌ Beginners without admin discipline
– ❌ Those who want full Belgian tax handling
💡 For those who don’t want tax work and want a Belgian broker: Bolero, Keytrade or MeDirect. Trade Republic requires serious time for the annual filing.
🔗 See DEGIRO review(NL) and NBB declaration(NL).
What you must handle yourself: the tax checklist
With a Belgian-established broker (Bolero, Keytrade, MeDirect) the tax side is handled for you. Trade Republic is a German institution with no Belgian branch, so everything below falls to you. That is not a detail: it is the difference between €1 per order and an annual administrative routine.
1. Stock-exchange tax (TOB) — declare and pay it yourself
TOB is due on every purchase and every sale. The rate depends on the instrument, not on the broker:
- 0.12% — distributing ETFs, and accumulating EEA ETFs not on the FSMA list (capped at €1,300 per transaction).
- 0.35% — individual shares (capped at €1,600 per transaction).
- 1.32% — accumulating ETFs that are on the FSMA list (capped at €4,000 per transaction).
You declare through MyMinfin. Declaration and payment are due by the last day of the second month following the month of the transaction — buy in March and the deadline is the end of May. If you invest monthly, this is a recurring obligation.
2. Dividend withholding tax — 30%
Trade Republic withholds no Belgian roerende voorheffing. You declare foreign dividends yourself in box VII of your personal income tax return, at 30%. Note the order of operations: a foreign dividend has usually already had withholding tax deducted in its country of origin, and the Belgian 30% is calculated on the amount remaining after that deduction.
3. Capital-gains tax since 2026 — 10%
Since 1 January 2026 a 10% tax applies to realised capital gains on financial assets, above an annual exemption of €10,000 per person (Law of 6 April 2026, Belgian Official Gazette 21 April 2026). Belgian brokers have withheld this automatically since 1 June 2026. Trade Republic does not — you declare the gain yourself.
For assets you already held before 1 January 2026, the market value on 31 December 2025 serves as your tax cost basis. Keep a record of your positions on that date.
Declaring the account to the NBB Central Contact Point
Because Trade Republic is a foreign institution, you must report the existence of the account to the Central Contact Point (CAP) at the National Bank of Belgium. This is a separate obligation from your tax return — though you must also tick the existence of a foreign account on the return itself and state the country.
- What: the account holder’s name, the country, and the institution.
- When: by the time you file your tax return, and once only — it does not need repeating each year while the account is unchanged.
- Where: via the National Bank of Belgium’s website.
- Penalty for failing to report: a fine under art. 445 WIB92/CIR92 — €50 where there is no bad faith.
This is precisely where a Belgian-established broker differs: it reports to the CAP itself, so its clients do nothing.
Worked example: what Trade Republic actually costs
The €1 per order is real, but it is not the whole cost. Take €200 a month into a global ETF:
- Commission: 12 × €1 = €12 per year (and €0 on a savings plan, which is commission-free).
- TOB on an accumulating ETF on the FSMA list (1.32%): 12 × €2.64 = €31.68 per year.
- TOB on an ETF at 0.12%: 12 × €0.24 = €2.88 per year.
Two things stand out. First, the fund choice matters more fiscally than the broker choice: the gap between a 1.32% fund and a 0.12% one is nearly €29 a year here, against €12 of commission. Second, at Trade Republic that TOB is an amount you must calculate, declare and transfer yourself — at a Belgian broker it simply appears on your contract note.
Frequently asked questions
Is Trade Republic safe for Belgian investors?
Trade Republic is supervised by Germany’s BaFin and covered by the German deposit guarantee scheme (EdB) for €100,000 of cash per depositor, with separate German investor protection up to €20,000 for securities in the event of broker insolvency. Your securities themselves are held in custody at HSBC Germany and remain legally yours — a broker failure does not turn them into part of its estate.
Do I really have to declare TOB every month?
The legal deadline is the last day of the second month after the month of the transaction. If you buy monthly, that is a rolling obligation. Many investors batch their filings in practice, but the deadline still runs per transaction month.
Does the new capital-gains tax replace the stock-exchange tax?
No. TOB is a transaction tax, due on every purchase and sale regardless of profit or loss. The 10% capital-gains tax applies to realised gains above €10,000 a year. They coexist and tax different things.
Is the savings plan really free?
The commission on a savings plan is zero, but stock-exchange tax is still due on each execution. “Commission-free” is not the same as “cost-free”.
Who is Trade Republic a poor fit for?
Anyone who does not want to do the tax administration themselves. If you invest monthly and have no appetite for TOB filings, a CAP declaration and your own capital-gains calculation, a Belgian-established broker charges slightly more per order and takes the entire administrative burden off you.
Sources
- Trade Republic — Official site
- BaFin — Trade Republic licence
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