Cyberattack disrupts operations of Belgium's tax service

In Belgium, after a cyberattack on the Federal Public Service Finance (FPS Finance), the MyMinfin tax portal and a number of other electronic services were temporarily shut down. Due to the disruptions, authorities decided to extend the deadlines for submitting certain tax returns that were due at the end of October.

The Federal Public Service Finance of Belgium reported the incident on October 28. Details were also published by The Brussels Times.

According to the service, after detecting the attack, some governmental electronic systems were shut down for security reasons. This is necessary to limit potential risks and to carry out technical work to protect the information infrastructure.

Among the unavailable services was MyMinfin – the main electronic portal of the Belgian tax service. Through it, citizens and entrepreneurs submit tax returns, receive financial documents, check tax liabilities, and perform other administrative operations. The disruptions also affected the related online tax filing system, Tax-on-web.

The cyberattack occurred just before an important tax deadline. In Belgium, taxpayers with certain types of income had to submit their returns by October 31, 2026. These included incomes from self-employed business activities and professional activities abroad.

The Federal Public Service Finance announced that taxpayers affected by the disruptions will be given additional time to submit such returns. The new deadline has not yet been set – it will be announced separately. The extension applies to the relevant category of returns, not to all tax liabilities in the country.

These changes may also be relevant for Ukrainians living in Belgium who are required to declare income from entrepreneurship or work abroad there. Updated deadlines can be tracked on the official website of the Belgian tax service.

At the same time, the service emphasized that there are currently no signs of personal data leakage or information theft from government systems. However, an investigation is ongoing, so it is too early to draw final conclusions about the consequences of the attack.

A significant portion of other electronic services of the Federal Public Service Finance continues to operate fully or with certain restrictions. The deadline for full restoration of the affected systems was not mentioned in the announcement of October 28.

Based on materials from: Federal Public Service Finance of Belgium, The Brussels Times, FPS Finance – tax return deadlines