Tax relief is gone: what's left?

On 12 December 2025, the Belgian Chamber approved the definitive abolition of the 5% tax reduction for investments in recognised development funds. The decision applies retroactively from 1 January 2025: investments made this year will no longer qualify for the benefit through the 2026 tax return.

With public support declining, the sector faces a crossroads. But rather than retreating, Alterfin is sharpening its positioning with a proposition that stands on its own - because the underlying value creation is demonstrable.

Luc Cool, CEO:
"The tax relief was an extra - never the essence. If international solidarity increasingly flows through private sector finance, then we should treat it for what it is: an investment with a clear objective, transparency and measurability. Human Yield is our answer. It's time impact finance behaved like any other asset class - with clear language, models you can test, and returns you can explain."

Human Yield: from impact language to investment logic

With Human Yield, we introduce a framework that substantiates and quantifies what we call human return. The concept builds on three years of impact research and data verification with our partner organisations in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

These organisations work in microfinance and sustainable agriculture, and the research maps the concrete socio-economic effects of our investments. The data are translated into measurable indicators related to economic wellbeing, household wellbeing and resilience.

This research now feeds into the Human Yield impact calculator - a tool that allows existing and potentially new cooperative members to calculate their personal human return based on the amount they invest. The first generation of the calculator is live and will continue to develop and grow.

Caterina Giordano, Chief Impact Officer:
"Our cooperative members choose us not for high financial return, but because they believe capital can drive positive change. That belief demands accountability. If it truly is about human return, then you need both language and models that you can explain and test. Otherwise, 'impact' remains a word everyone likes to use until someone asks for evidence. We want our members to understand what happens with their money - concretely, measurably, and linked to their own contribution."

Humanity investors: investment capital that works

We finance microfinance and sustainable agriculture worldwide through carefully selected partner organisations. These are not traditional NGOs, socially oriented private-sector enterprises and producer organisations that operate with a market-based approach.

This is not a donation model. The capital works in local entrepreneurship, generates income and resilience, and - where possible - flows back to be reinvested.

By calling cooperative members humanity investors, we underscore three key principles:

1. Capital remains active – it works actively through our partner organisations
2. Returns are intentionally human, not financial - members accept minimal dividends because their investment targets dignified livelihoods and systemic change
3. It is also a form of risk management - building resilience and solidarity in vulnerable communities strengthens stability in an interconnected world

Luc Cool: "We see a growing group of investors - especially in their forties and fifties - who want to go beyond purely financial return. They want to know what their money does in the world. At the same time, they don’t want their commitment to be treated as a one-off gift without accountability. They are investors. They want transparency, discipline, and a model that holds up under a business lens."

‍Caterina Giordano:
"The abolition of tax relief in Belgium is a wake-up call for the whole sector. Organisations that cannot demonstrate their impact will struggle. Organisations that collect data and develop methodology will thrive with a growing community of investors who fundamentally believe money should serve humanity, not the other way around. These are people who invest to build a stable, just world - for them, measurable impact matters far more than dividends or tax incentives."

A signal to the sector

With the launch of Human Yield, we want to send a signal to the impact finance and ESG investing sector: transparency and substantiation are no longer optional - they are expected, and needed.

At Alterfin, we are committed not only to financing entrepreneurship in the Global South, but also to professionalising the language, models and standards by which impact is measured and communicated.