On 28 April 2017, the Belgian Council of State annulled the nomination of the French-speaking Board members of the Ruling Office, due to a complaint by a previous Board member.
As a result of the judgement, the Ruling Office will not be able to take any formal decisions before the Board members have been replaced. However, the activities of the Ruling Office as a whole will continue, including pre-filing and post-filing meetings, and the preparation of final decisions. New files can also still be introduced and will be investigated as usual.
The Belgian government is aware of the urgency of the matter and will launch the formal appointment procedure as soon as possible, but the procedure takes time.
This may cause issues with relation to the “advance character” of certain pending ruling requests, taking into account that, in principle, a ruling decision has to precede the filing of the tax return in question.
For any questions, please get in touch with your local PwC contact, Patrick Boone or Philippe Vanclooster.
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