Prime Minister Michel announced that his Government had reached an agreement on the budget for 2015 and 2016 and on a “tax shift” of €7.2 billion. The government had to find an additional € 978 million to balance the budget for this year and to reduce the deficit to 2.5 percent as promised to Europe. An additional € 800 million will be needed for 2016, …
New Tax Measures in the 2017 Budget Law
The State Gazette published the Act of December 25, 2016, which implements the 2017 budget along the lines announced at the time of the budget discussions in October 2016. To read more, click here.
Belgium Reaches Agreement on Budget
In the early hours of October 15, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel announced that his government had found an agreement on the 2017 budget. The three topics that were at the centre of the budget discussion — an in-depth reform of the corporate tax, a capital gains tax for individuals, and new measures to channel savings into the economy — have been shelved for now. To …
‘20 Percent for 2020’: A Scenario for Belgium’s Corporate Tax Reform
Caterpillar, a U.S. multinational corporation, recently announced its intention to close its plant in Gosselies, Belgium, where it manufactures heavy machinery. While the news was not unexpected, it still came as a shock to the 2,200 employees who will lose their jobs. In 2013, 1,400 jobs were lost in a restructuring. Walloon Minister-President Paul Magnette said he was shocked and scandalized by the announcement, because …
Belgium Abolishes Patent Box, Introduces Innovation Box
Apart from the correction of a piece of legislation introduced at the end of last year (following Tate & Lyle), Belgium’s recently published Act of August 3, 2016, deals mainly with the abolition of the patent box, which provides an 80 percent deduction of patent income related to the development or enhancement of patents. To read more, click here.
A new Tax Regime for the Diamond Sector
Belgium’s controversial diamond regime, which the European Commission announced was in line with state aid rules, will enter into force for tax year 2017. Belgium’s July 24, 2015, program law introduced a special tax regime for diamond traders, in which they will pay tax on 0.55 percent of their turnover rather than on the actual profits from their diamond trading activities. (see our contribution of …
New Tax Measures under the Programme Law
The Programme Law of July 1 introduced a number of fiscal measures, including transfer pricing documentation in line with action 13 of the OECD’s base erosion and profit-shifting project and measures to combat tax fraud. To read more, click here.
Tax Regime for the Sharing Economy,
The Programme Law of July 1, 2016, sets up a framework for taxing income received from the sharing economy, consisting of an advantageous (but limited) tax regime for personal service providers who run through a digital platform and tax withholding at source by the digital platform. The sharing, or peer-to-peer, economy is booming as digital platforms and apps (such as Uber, MenuNextDoor, Airbnb, and AirBsit) …
Belgium introduces Transfer Pricing Documentation
Apart from the new tax regime for the sharing economy, the Programme law of 1 July 2016 (Belgian State Gazette 4 July 2016) introduced a number of other fiscal measures, including provisions that introduce transfer pricing documentation in line with Action 13 of the OECD’s BEPS project and other budgetary measures, including measures to combat tax fraud. The Law implements the three-tiered standardized approach set …
New Penalties for Failure to Report Legal Arrangements
In 2015, Belgium introduced a transparency or “look-through” tax for legal arrangements such as trusts and trust-like arrangements and for other legal arrangements that have legal personality. The founder or the sponsor of such legal arrangement is taxed on the income of the legal arrangement as if it was his personal income, unless a beneficiary has received the income. Moreover, when the original founder dies his …