News articles written by Lionel Wielemans

Holding companies – VAT deduction methodology – Reporting obligations

28 February 2024

Introduction By the end of June 2023, companies applying the real use VAT deduction method (cost allocation) for mixed taxable persons had to notify it to the Belgian VAT authorities. Now these companies also have to communicate a whole set of information to back-up this VAT deduction methodology. For VAT taxable persons that already applied

Tax changes for the Belgian real estate market

18 December 2023

This Newsflash highlights significant measures that influence the landscape of the Belgian real estate market. Indeed, on 9 October 2023, the Belgian government reached an agreement regarding the Federal Budget for 2024. The current budget round was an important one, as the economic climate is deteriorating and this has an impact on the budget of

Reduced VAT Rate for Home Demolition-Reconstruction Extended, Excludes Developers

10 October 2023

The Belgian government has announced an extension of the reduced 6% VAT rate for the demolition and reconstruction of homes. However, this benefit will now exclusively apply to individual homeowners. Developers, who previously enjoyed this rate under certain conditions for the sale of apartments and homes, will revert to the standard VAT rate of 21%

VAT & Digital Services: European Commission on NFTs and Implications from OnlyFans EUCJ Case

12 April 2023

VAT Treatment of NFTs: The European Commission has published Working Paper 1060, offering initial insights into the VAT treatment of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).  The document aims to collect input from Member States to establish a consensus on NFTs’ VAT treatment. It emphasizes the complexity of NFTs, highlighting the following points: NFT VAT treatment necessitates case-by-case

VAT deduction based on direct attribution of costs: new rules as from 2023

22 November 2022

In Belgium, the pro rata based on turnover is the general VAT deduction method for mixed VAT payers. Beside the prorata, the direct attribution method can also be applied. This method is widely used in the financial, real estate, not–for-profit and public sector. In practice, most corporate groups also use this method for their activities

VAT fixed establishment – Positive decision of the ECJ in the “Berlin Chemie” case

8 April 2022

The issue with parent-subsidiary VAT fixed establishment The concept of VAT fixed establishment has recently been the source of litigation in several Member States. In those cases, tax authorities argue that a subsidiary is the VAT fixed establishment of its parent company.   In Belgium, we have seen this growing trend whereby the Belgian VAT authorities

Belgium to abolish the cost-sharing VAT exemption for Financial Services

23 March 2021

Belgium will abolish the VAT exemption for cost-sharing associations (independent groups of persons) in the financial sector (banking – insurance). A draft law has been approved. This position follows the judgments of the CJEU cases DNB Banka (C-326/15) and Aviva (C-605/15) of 21 September 2017. The benefit of the exemption will be abolished as of

VAT group : VAT on services provided by head-office to fixed establishment / branch

17 March 2021

The CJEU confirmed the application of the reverse-Skandia principle: a branch is a separate VAT taxable person from its head-office when the head-office is a member of a VAT group in another EU Member State (CJEU, C-812/19, 11 March 2021). This approach was already applied in Belgium. However, some EU Member States were not recognizing