Tax residence can be a difficult concept, in particular if one has many residences. Johnny Hallyday is a French rock star, who died at the end of last year. In fact, he was Belgian but became the French rocker of all rockers, made millions and moved to Switzerland for tax reasons. In 2013, he took up residence in Santa Monica, California. …
2018 Tax Return : Appeal the Tax Bill
How and where you do that is explained on page 2 of your tax bill. You have to send a letter to the regional directorate within after you receive the tax bill. That means the letter must arrive with the tax authorities within six months plus three working days from the date the assessment was sent out. That is the …
2018 Tax Return : The Tax Bill
Now that you have filed your tax return, all that you can do if wait for the tax man to send you the bill. The “avertissement extrait de role”/”aanslagbiljet” is really the tax bill for your 2017 income. This is what it looks like. If the tax bill is not sent before 30 June 2019, the taxman may have to …
2018 Tax Return : Nowhere to Hide
For years, many people thought they could safely “forget” to declare the income they had outside Belgium; the taxman would never find out. The EU Savings Directive was a rude wake-up call as the Belgian tax authorities started enquiring about overseas bank accounts. And when Belgian banks started reporting to the tax authorities abroad, they thought “Surely, Luxembourg and Switzerland …
2018 Tax Return : Box XIV – Trusts
Moreover, you have to confirm whether you have set up a legal arrangement (a “construction juridique”) or whether you are the beneficiary of such a legal arrangement. This is a difficult word for a trust, a foundation or a foreign company in which you accumulate income tax free. Cayman tax If you have such a legal arrangement, you must also …
2018 Tax Return : Box XIV – Overseas Bank Accounts and Insurance Policies
In box XIV you have to confirm whether you have bank accounts outside Belgium, even if you didn’t have any income on these accounts. Do I have to report the money on my bank account? No, you tick the box with code 1075, list the countries where you have bank accounts with the name of the account holders. You also …
2018 Tax Return – Box XII – Paying your Taxes in Advance
If you have paid your tax in advance, e.g. because you don’t have an employer who deducts the tax from your salary, you report that under 1570/2570 in Box XII. Paying the tax in advance is highly recommended, in particular for self-employed. Not doing so results in a tax increase of 2.25% of the tax. If you don’t have to …
2018 Tax Return – Box X – Other Tax Deductions
Box X is for all sorts of payments or expenses that you have made and for which you can claim a tax reduction. That goes from donations to charities (1394): the minimum is €40 per charity, if you have a tax certificate of the donation, you can recover up to 45% of the donation; childcare (1384): you can deduct €11.2 …
2018 Tax Return – Box IX – Mortgages
In box IX you mostly report interest and mortgage payments to buy your main residence (under I) or another property (under II). The tax incentives to buy your main residence are a regional matter and you will see that the codes relating to your main residence start with a 3 (for him, on the left) or a 4 (for her). …
2018 Tax Return : Box VIII – Maintenance Paid and Losses from Previous Years
Losses If you have made losses on past years, i.e. you had more expenses than income, you can carry forward these losses to later years and deduct them here. Maintenance paid If you pay alimony and/or child support to your ex, you can deduct 80% from your income. Maintenance paid can be deducted up to 80% if you have a …