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 …
Belgium simplifies proof of supply for intra-Community supplies
When a VAT payer in one EU Member State makes a supply of goods to a VAT payer in another EU Member State, that is an intra-Community supply. In such case, the place of supply is the place where the goods are delivered after dispatch or transport of the goods (article 40 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system 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 OECDâs 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 …
Belgium Extends Reporting of Payments to Tax Havens
Since 2010 Belgian companies and permanent establishments of foreign companies must report in their annual tax return all (direct and indirect) payments they have made to tax havens (art. 307 ITC 1992) for a total of EUR 100,000 or more. If they are not reported, these payments are not tax deductible. When reported, such payments are only tax deductible if the taxpayer can justify that …
Belgium updates list of tax havens
In two Royal Decrees dated 1 March 2016 (published in the Belgian State Gazettes of 10 and 11 March 2016), the Minister of Finance has updated the list of countries which are deemed to have an advantageous tax regime. The first list relates to the participation exemption, the basis for the Belgian holding company regime. One of the conditions for the participation exemption or dividend received deduction …
European Commission proposes harmonised matrimonial property regime
The European Commission has adopted proposals for a common property regime for international couples. These include two regulations, one that governs matrimonial property regimes for married couples and a second one that deals with property consequences of registered partnerships. The European Commission has found that 13 % of 2.4 million new marriages and 19 % of the 211,000 registered partnerships have an international dimension. The European Commission has been working on …
UK introduces “PSC Register”
From 6 April 2016, most UK companies and LLPs will be required to keep a âPSC Registerâ in which they list “People with Significant Controlâ, People with significant control are mostly individuals who have significant control over the company or LLP, because they directly or indirectly own more than 25% of the shares ; directly or indirectly hold more than 25% of the voting rights ; …