Self-employed workers to join social insurance fund at the latest on the first day of activities: no April Fool's joke

As from 1 April 2010, all self-employed workers have the obligation to join one of the social insurance funds for self-employed persons or the National Fund no later than the first day of their self-employed activity. They will no longer benefit from the transitory period of 90 days to do so as was the case in the past.

All individuals who exercise (or exercised) a self-employed activity and who should have joined a social insurance fund for self-employed persons or the National Fund but did not comply with this requirement are subject to an administrative fine ranging from 500 to 2,000 EUR. In mitigating circumstances, the administrative fine can be reduced but cannot be less than 200 EUR.