EU Commission requires Belgium and France to abolish tax exemptions for ports
Belgium and France must abolish the corporate tax exemptions for their ports by the end of 2017 and ensure that all ports are subject to the normally applicable rules starting from 1 January 2018. Read the newsalert here.
OECD released report on Neutralising the Effects of Branch Mismatch Arrangements (BEPS Action 2)
On 27 July 2017, the OECD released the report on Neutralising the Effects of Branch Mismatch Arrangements (BEPS Action 2). This report sets out recommendations for branch mismatch rules that would bring the treatment of these structures into line with the treatment of hybrid mismatch arrangements as set out in the 2015 Report on Neutralising the Effects
Belgian tax reform reduces corporate rate to 25% and introduces fiscal consolidation
On 26 July 2017, the federal government reached an agreement on an important tax, economic and social reform package. A significant gradual reduction in the corporate income tax rate to 25% in 2020 and fiscal consolidation are key components of the package. The agreement preserves the notional interest deduction. The tax reform is built around
Belgium decides to reduce corporate tax rate from 34% to 25%
Remark: The following announced measures will have to be formalised in draft legislation which should only be available as from September/October. Only then will full details be known. On 26 July 2017, the Federal government reached an agreement on an important corporate tax reform, significantly reducing the corporate tax rate. More details will follow below.
Ruling: guidance on how amendments to an existing ruling are treated
In its last newsletter published on 13 July, the Belgian Rulings Office has given an interesting clarification on how requests to obtain an amendment to an advance decision (so-called ‘Avenants’) will be treated. This often refers to situations where after the decision was granted certain critical facts change and that comfort is sought on the
Belgian UBO-register on its way
According to the fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (2015/849), adopted by the European Parliament on 20 May 2015, one of the obligations of all EU Member States was to establish a national register of ultimate beneficial owners (UBO) before 26 June 2017. Through the introduction of this register, the Member States will have an additional tool
Rulings Office releases 2016 Annual Report
The latest annual report of the Belgian Ruling Office was issued on June 21st. Looking at the statistics, it is clear that 2016 was a positive year with an increase in both the number of rulings granted and the number of pre-filing meetings held. The increase in the number of positive decisions combined with the
OECD releases the draft contents of the 2017 update to the OECD Model Tax Convention
The OECD announced that earlier this week, on 11 July 2017, the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs released the draft contents of the 2017 update to the OECD Model Tax Convention (‘MTC’) prepared by the Committee’s Working Party 1. The draft contents of the 2017 update to the OECD MTC has not yet been approved by
