As year-end is approaching, Belgian corporate tax payers are preparing to close their financial year and are preparing the start of a new one.
If your financial year is ending on 31 December 2019, it may be worthwhile to take into account the last due date for making an advance tax payment (i.e. 20 December 2019) in order to avoid (or minimize) a penalty in case no or insufficient advance tax payments are made.
Recap
Unless a Belgian corporate tax payer pays its Belgian corporate income taxes due by means of timely advance tax payments during the financial year concerned, a surcharge is due on the final amount of Belgian corporate income tax due upon assessment.
If advance payments are made, credits – which can be offset against the surcharge – are granted at fixed percentages, depending on the timing of payment: the sooner the advance tax payment is made, the higher the tax credit. If the surcharge is higher than the credit for a given assessment year, the balance will always be due (provided that the entity is in a tax paying position).
There are four due dates for making advance tax payments during each financial year. Advance tax payments can be made in quarterly installments no later than the 10th day of the fourth, seventh and tenth month of the financial year and the 20th day of the last month of the financial year.
For assessment year 2020, the global surcharge is 6,75%.
In practice
Advance tax payments need to have reached the bank account of the tax authorities on 20 December 2019 to still qualify for assessment year 2020. As from this year, the bank account number of the tax authorities changed:
Inningscentrum – Dienst voorafbetalingen
IBAN number BE61 6792 0022 9117
BIC: PCHQ BEBB
Do not forget to include a reference when making your payment, which can be generated via the following link: https://financien.belgium.be/nl/gestructureerde-mededeling
How can we help?
Our experts are ready to assist you in optimizing the last advance tax payment of the financial year to avoid/minimize a penalty.
Just contact your regular contact person. He/she will be happy to support you or refer you to one of our specialists if needed.
