Increase of purchasing power of employees for 2016 and 2017
We hereby inform you that the industrial partners have concluded a new sectoral agreement for Joint Committee (JC) 200 for the years 2016 and 2017. This JC replaces the previous JC 218 and is applicable to your firm in Belgium. After the index leap and the limited maximum margin for wage increase for 2014 and 2015 (see
New dispensation to calculate the days of presence of Belgian tax residents in Luxembourg
Just before the summer holidays, the Belgian tax authorities have published a Practice Note (Practice Note AGFisc No. 22/2015 (No. Ci.700.520) dated 1st June 2015) regarding the amicable agreement of 16 March 2015 on the application of section 15 of the Belgian-Luxembourg treaty for the avoidance of double taxation. The agreement has introduced, from 1st
Progress regarding implementation of Single (work and residence) Permit Directive
The EU Single Permit Directive 2011/98/EU requires the member states to adopt a single combined work and residence permit application procedure, and it needed to be transposed into national legislation by 23 December 2013. In Belgium, the implementation of the Directive suffered quite some delay. The reason for this is that the residence permit related
Draft Program Act of 26 November 2015 – Tax measures
A draft Program Act has recently been submitted to Belgian Parliament, containing the following tax measures: When a former employee has entered into the system of unemployment with company surcharge, takes up a new employment with another employer (or becomes self-employed), he is in principle still entitled to receive the company surcharge. This surcharge (and additional
Lists of tax havens revised
On 27 November 2015 the Council of Ministers revised the lists of tax havens that apply for the purposes of the so-called dividends-received deduction (‘DRD’) and the reporting obligation for payments (to tax havens). Two draft Royal Decrees have been approved that add or delete certain countries to or from the lists following changes to
End of year is approaching: rules of the game for gift vouchers
One option to reward employees in a tax-friendly manner at the end of this year is to provide them with a gift, i.e. gifts in kind or in cash, or vouchers for books, sporting and cultural events, movies, etc. As a general rule, gifts are in principle considered as remuneration and thus subject to social
Single resolution fund on schedule for 1 January 2016
The EU’s single resolution mechanism will enter into force, as scheduled, on 1 January 2016. This signals completion of the second pillar of Europe’s banking union. As of 30 November 2015, a sufficient number of member states ratified an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) on the transfer and mutualisation of contributions to a single resolution fund (SRF). This
Financial Sector Contribution: (proposed) rates increases
On 26 November, the Belgian Government introduced a bill of law comprising, already, some changes to the brand-new Financial Sector Contribution (FSC) introduced by the Act of 10 August 2015. As a reminder, the FSC is the result of the multiplication of three factors: “FSC = Qualifying Liabilities x FSC Rate x NID Rate”. It