We refer to our previous headline of 22 January 2019 regarding the draft law introducing a reporting and wage withholding tax obligation in the hands of Belgian employers/companies, in case affiliated foreign companies grant taxable benefits to employees or company directors working for a Belgian company.
The draft law is now approved by parliament and the measures will become applicable. Having adopted the amended timetable as outlined in our headline of 24 January 2019 a wage withholding tax obligation is thus imposed (for income taxable) as from 1 March 2019. Consequently, the benefits subject to wage withholding tax (to be withheld via payroll as of 1 March 2019) will be mentioned on the 2019 salary statement (fiche 281.10/281.20), resulting from the Belgian payroll administration.
As there is no withholding tax obligation for the taxable benefits granted in the period as from 1 January 2019 up to 28 February 2019, those benefits will only need to be reported on the 2019 salary statement (fiche 281.10 / 281.20), which will need to be submitted with the Belgian tax authorities in 2020.
In principle, all benefits mentioned on the salary statements (fiche 281.10/281.20) need to be taken into account when preparing and filing the Belgian resident or non-resident income tax returns of the employees or company directors involved.
