Job student, student entrepreneur or student self-employed?

If you want to work as a student, there are basically three statutes you can take up. To avoid confusion, we briefly explain the three options.

1. Job student: you are at least 16 years old, studying is your main activity and you work a maximum of 600 hours per calendar year.
   Want to know more about child benefits, taxes and working as a job student? Check out Student@Work’s infographic: https://www.studentatwork.be/en/documents/pdf/infographic-regulation-2023.pdf
   
   
2. Student self-employed: this statute offers adult students who want to start their own business some social and tax benefits that make it easier to take the leap into entrepreneurship. You are performing an independent professional activity and meet all the conditions for being allowed to perform this independent activity. In addition, you are enrolled to regularly attend classes at a Belgian or foreign educational institution to obtain a diploma (as well as attestation, certificate, credit certificate or certificate) recognized by a competent authority – and you are enrolled for at least 27 credits or at least 17 class hours per week. Please note that the maximum age for this statute is 25 years. As a student self-employed person, you pay social security contributions (reduced or even none) depending on your income. You also remain a dependent of your parents as long as your income remains limited.
   
   
3. Student-entrepreneur: this institution-specific “status” is offered by several higher education institutions – and allows students who are already self-employed or plan to become self-employed to better align their study obligations with their self-employment. For example, you can reschedule exams, internships or feedback moments. The specific conditions and support you receive varies by educational institution. So be sure to ask about this for your college or university.