‘COVID-19’ rent free period: a new tax credit for real estate owners
Several measures were very recently adopted (for some, they existed already and were simply extended) by the Belgian legislator through its Law dd. 2 April 2021 on temporary support measures in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these measures, an incentive is made available to Belgian taxpayers with respect to real estate (including Belgian
Proposal of 27 March 2019 introducing provisions on the basic banking service for companies in Book VII of the Economic Law Code
On 27 March 2019, a proposal of law was submitted in the Belgian Parliament aiming to introduce the basic banking service for companies. Similar provisions on the basic banking service already exist, but they only apply to consumers. The new provisions will be inserted in Book VII of the Economic Law Code. In practice, companies
Shareholder Rights Directive II. Financial institutions, are you prepared?
In May 2017, the European Parliament and the Council approved Directive (EU) 2017/828 amending Directive 2007/36/EC as regards the encouragement of long-term shareholder engagement (the Shareholder Rights Directive II or SRD II). The due date of 10 June 2019 for the transposition of this new Directive into national law is approaching fast. So far, the
Foreign real estate funds eligible for Dutch FBI tax exemption
On 23 November 2018, the Lower Court in Breda, the Netherlands, decided that a German Open-Ended Public Fund (represented by PwC) was entitled to the FBI regime providing, among others, for a 0% Corporate Income Tax (CIT) rate on Dutch source real estate income. The Court also ruled that the portfolio investment test (one of
Update on pending changes to the German RETT regime for share deals
The heated debate on the tightening of the German RETT Act to expand the scope of this tax to include sales of less than 95% of the company’s share capital continued with a meeting of the Finance Ministers of the Federal States on 21 June 2018. Although no formal draft document is available yet, changes
President Trump signs Omnibus Spending Bill with Favorable Real Estate Tax Provisions
On 23 March 2018, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 (the Omnibus Act), an omnibus government spending bill which includes several technical corrections of previously enacted tax provisions related to FIRPTA, REIT spin-off transactions, REIT income tests and the partnership audit rules. The Omnibus Act also includes new low-income housing tax credit
New Double Tax Treaty between France and Luxembourg: impact on real estate structures
On March 20, the Luxembourg and French Governments have signed, amongst other, a new double tax treaty (DTT), together with an accompanying Protocol. The new DTT seeks to modernise the rules applying. The current treaty between Luxembourg and France was signed as long ago as 1 April 1958. The new DTT is fully “post-BEPS”. It
Belgian tax reform: impact on the real estate industry
Yesterday, the Belgian government reached an agreement on several tax measures, including a corporate tax reform and the introduction of an option to apply VAT on immovable letting. Although these measures will be developed further in detail in the coming months, it is already certain they will have an important impact on the Belgian real
