New administrative VAT decision: Travel package and insurance services – Impact for Belgian lease industry
The Belgian VAT authorities have published a new administrative decision clarifying the VAT treatment of offerings by travel agencies consisting of both travel services and insurance services, based on the ‘old’ CJEU case BGZ Leasing of 2011 (C-224/11). These guidelines adjust the initial viewpoint of the Belgian VAT authorities to the CJEU case BGZ Leasing
Belgium: new agreement on Tax Shift
On 10 October 2015, the Belgian federal government reached a new agreement on the so-called “tax shift”. The tax shift is the shift from tax on labour to other taxes. The objectives of the tax shift are: To respect the budgetary engagements; A revival of the economy by creating more jobs; Reducing labour taxes to
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
EU Commission released new VAT Gap Study – Belgian Gap in 2013 estimated at 10% or EUR 3.2 billion
On 4 September 2015, the European Commission released the latest figures on the so-called “VAT Gap”. The VAT Gap is an indicator of the effectiveness of VAT enforcement and compliance measures, as it provides an estimate of revenue loss due to tax fraud, tax evasion and avoidance, bankruptcies, financial insolvencies as well as miscalculations. Based
Belgium: agreement on tax shift
On 23 July 2015, the Belgian federal government reached an agreement on the so-called “tax shift”. The tax shift is mainly aimed at i) reducing the tax burden on labour, ii) improving the competitiveness of Belgian companies and iii) creating more jobs. It involves the introduction of a number of new tax measures that may impact
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
