Unless a company 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 tax 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.
There are four due dates for making advance tax payments during each financial year. Advance tax payments can be made in quarterly instalments 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 2022, the global surcharge is 6,75% (as was also the case for assessment year 2021) and the first due date to make an advance tax payment for a financial year ending on 31 December 2021 is 12 April 2021.
Depending on the (forecasted) cash available within the company/group and the estimated taxable basis for assessment year 2022, it could be highly advisable to consider making an advance tax payment in the first quarter. Such first quarter advance tax payment gives a credit of 9% which means that a company should make less advance tax payments as compared to paying in a later quarter (e.g. the fourth quarter only gives rise to a credit of 4,5% of the advance tax payment made) in order to avoid a surcharge.
When calculating a company’s forecasted taxable basis for assessment year 2022, one should take into account special transactions and exceptional events which may occur during the year, such as the further impact of the Corona virus on the company’s business/results. In addition, the impact of the last wave of the tax reform should be evaluated as well. In this context, we refer amongst others to measures such as the decreased statutory tax rate, the impact of the interest limitation rules, the reconstitution reserve, the possibility to tax specific tax free reserves at a lower rate and/or the possibility to make use of tax consolidation.
How should you make your first advance tax payment?
Please note that there are now two options for proceeding to the payment of a first advance tax payment:
- Via bank transfer on the bank account of the Belgian tax authorities IBAN BE61 6792 0022 9117 (BIC: PCHQ BEBB). The payment procedure, including the structured communication to be used, remains the same as in prior years (even in case of a first advance tax payment);
- Via MyMinFin
It may however be important to note that in order to request for a refund, to request for a transfer of advance tax payments to a subsequent assessment year or to have an overview of the advance tax payments made in relation to a specific assessment year, the taxpayer needs to access a specific module on the MyMinFin platform (which requires a Belgian e-ID or a specific login like ‘Itsme’).
How can we help?
Our experts are ready to assist you in:
- Computing and optimizing the advance tax payments to be made for assessment year 2022 taking into account the further roll-out of the tax reform; and/or
- Providing further guidance on how to access/use the specific module on the MyMinFin platform.
Please feel free to contact your regular contact person to discuss the above. He/she will be happy to support you or refer you to one of our specialists if needed.
