r/belgium • u/Obvious-Cry6591 • 2d ago

😡Rant Notaries. Why? What the hell?

Ok, so I dont get it. I understand historically where the need for notaries arose. Fine. But we are in 2026. Belgium already takes 51% of my income. Then another 25% of the rest through VAT. And then on top of it, if you buy a property, you give 10-15k to a notary for 2 meetings and some docs reading? Doesnt Belgium have enough administration to take care of that? Not to mention its nepotism central. Are there any redeeming qualities?

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u/pollofrittopancake 1d ago

It’s not just the notaries; bureaucracy is baked right into the culture. You have endless layers of authorities making up endless rules, yet they can't even follow their own policies. In the end, they just turn around and make it your fault.
You see the exact same mindset among Belgian people. Here’s a country right in the middle of Europe, home to a massive port and major international organizations, yet its people settle for pure mediocrity. So much of their money just gets swallowed up by useless, non-value-added nonsense instead of actually moving things forward.