Section 62 of the Program Law of 22 June 2012 has introduced a new condition for the tax deductibility of contributions paid into an occupational pension plan (by amending sections 59 §1 and 60 of the Belgian Income Tax Code). As from 1st January 2013, pension contributions will only be deductible if the so-called “Sigedis-obligations” have been complied with.
Indeed, a few years ago, a pension database was set up which is administered by a body called Sigedis (www.sigedis.be). As from 1st July 2011, pension funds and insurers are required to start uploading information related to pension plans for employees. It concerns general data about the plan and individual data on pension rights for each participant. Next year, data for directors also need to be uploaded. This obligation to feed the database will soon become a condition for tax deductibility.
Typically, providing the required information to Sigedis does not pose any problems for an employer whose occupational pension plan is administered by a Belgian insurer or pension fund. The latter do the work. But, in some cases, the pensions for employees for whom the Belgian law on complementary pensions applies are administered in non-Belgian pension vehicles. Also in the case of internationally mobile employees, the tax deductibility can be at risk. In order to have the cost tax-deductible in Belgium, data about the pension that is administered abroad should be reported in the Sigedis database.
