On 1 May 2022, the Federal Ministry of Finance published step-by-step guide to register a private gift online. Only gifts of movables A gift of real property can still not be one online or without passing before a notary. A gift of movables can be done without a notary with the Finance Ministry by paying gift tax. However, such gift will usually be done with …
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Airbnb
If you let out a furnished property through short term rental agreements or through Airbnb, you have to pay tax on the rent for the apartment and on the rent for the furniture. If you want to rent an apartment through Airbnb, with services that you or an agent provide (e.g. BNBE), the tax regime is slightly more complicated. How is a furnished rental taxed? …
Tax Return: Nowhere to Hide
For years, many people thought they could safely “forget” 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 receiving information about overseas bank accounts and enquiring about overseas bank accounts. And when Belgian banks started reporting to the tax authorities abroad, they thought “Surely, Luxembourg and Switzerland …
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Tax Return: Tax on Securities Accounts
In 2018 Belgium introduced a wealth tax; in 2019, the Constitutional Court declared the tax discriminatory and annulled the tax … for the future. This means that you had to pay the tax the last time in 2020. However, the government has introduced a new Tax on Securities Accounts that is due again as of next year. The main change is that the tax is …
Tax Return: Stock Exchange Tax
Belgium has always charged a tax on stock exchange transactions, such as the purchase and sale of some financial instruments (that is a general term for stocks, bonds, units of mutual funds, etc …) on a secondary market, and the sale of mutual funds (UCITS), through a Belgium-based professional intermediary, a bank or broker. The tax is also due when you buy or sell …
Capital Gains
As a matter of principle, Belgium doesn’t tax capital gains if they are made by way of “normal management of private wealth”. Private wealth is anything that you don’t use for your job or for professional purposes. And the normal management of your private wealth is what you do to keep your wealth growing safely, without speculating. Speculation would be e.g. borrowing to get leverage …
Tax Return: Box XIII – Trusts
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 an overseas company in a tax haven in which you accumulate income tax-free. Cayman tax If you have such a legal arrangement, you must also declare the interest …
Tax Return: Box XIII – Overseas Bank Accounts and Life Insurance Policies
In box XIII 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 accounts? 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 tick the box to confirm that …
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 an oaverall tax increase of 2.25% on top f the tax. If you don’t have to pay the …
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 gifts to charities (code 1394): the minimum is €40 per charity, if you have a tax certificate from the charity, you can recover up to 60% of the gift by reducing your tax bill (that is due to Covid, …