Belgian Court of Appeal: substance is also key for VAT
In the case at hand, the Belgian Court of Appeal ruled that a Luxembourg transportation company had an establishment in Belgium for VAT purposes as the company was mostly operating from Belgium and had limited substance in Luxembourg. Consequently, the Luxembourg company had to apply Belgian VAT on its operations. This judgment is in line
VAT: for B2B situations the former tax point rules will be reinstated for advance invoicing!
Upon proposal of the Finance Cabinet, the Council of Ministers has approved a draft bill that reinstates the issuance of an advance invoice in B2B situations; this causes the VAT to become due in the hands of the supplier, allowing at the same time input VAT deduction in the hands of the business customer. The new
Skandia case: upcoming law formally confirms position of Belgian VAT authorities
Belgium has taken steps to respond to the outcome of the Skandia America Corp court case (C-7/13 of 17 September 2014). Indeed, the Belgian cabinet council has recently approved a draft proposal of law of the Belgian Minister of Finance (Johan Van Overtveldt), whereby all international transactions between a head office and a branch are subject
A Digital Single Market for Europe – Commission sets out its strategy – Modernizing VAT for cross-border e-commerce
On 6th May 2015, the European Commission announced its Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe. The aim is to remove the barriers which currently hinder EU based companies to grow and to be (more) competitive with the world’s Internet giants. In the context of VAT, the Commission should make legislative proposals in 2016 to modernize
VAT: tax point rules (advance invoices) – transitional VAT regime once more extended and upcoming change in legal framework
As from 1 January 2013, the issuance of an invoice not always triggers the payment of the VAT. Due to the practical implications of this new rule, the Belgian authorities had provided for transitional measures that were applicable from 1 January 2013 until 31 December 2014. On 7 October 2014, the Belgian VAT authorities published an
New administrative VAT decision: discretionary portfolio management versus advisory management
The Belgian VAT administration recently published a new administrative decision clarifying the VAT treatment of portfolio discretionary management and advisory management based on the ECJ case Deutsche Bank. Discretionary portfolio management Discretionary portfolio management consisting of (1) a service of analysing and monitoring the assets of client investors and (2) a service of actually purchasing and
VAT: Belgian VAT authorities to comment Belgian impact of CJEU court case Skandia (C-7/13)
The Belgian VAT authorities recently published a new administrative decision on the impact of the CJEU court case Skandia America Corp (C-7/13, 17 September 2014) with regard to Belgian VAT legislation. Following the position of the CJEU, all head office/branch transactions are subject to VAT if the branch or the head office is part of
Creation of certainty on VAT treatment of complex cross border transactions – Cross Border Rulings Project extended until 2018 by EU Commission
The VAT Cross Border Rulings Pilot Project has been set up for taxable persons to obtain advance rulings on the VAT treatment of complex cross border transactions. Cross border rulings (CBRs) create certainty, thus mitigating the risk of double taxation and related disputes. The EU pilot project started in 2013 and now involves 15 Member
