Administrative circular on spin-off transactions
On April 20th, 2020, the Belgian Tax Administration issued the circular 2020/C/55 further detailing the tax treatment of spin-off transactions according to article 264, first paragraph, 4° of the BITC 92. Context As a reminder, the so-called spin-off transactions are not demerger transactions nor transactions assimilated to a demerger, as defined by article 2, §1,
New measures for open-ended public undertakings for collective investment against the consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic
Summary The Royal Decree of 22 April 2020 aims to protect open-ended public undertakings for collective investment (“UCIs”) against the consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic and in particular protect the liquidity of such UCIs. UCIs that are confronted with redemption requests of their units have to sell, often at unfavourable prices, positions in their portfolios
COVID-19 measures and write-downs on receivables by financial institutions, back to deductibility issues raised during the financial crisis?
Following the measures taken by the various governments in Belgium and abroad to fight against the spread of the Covid-19, it can be expected that credit institutions take write-downs on receivables. In this respect, the Belgian tax authorities have published a circular on this topic earlier this week. In a nutshell, the tax authorities have
Time to act as OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework moves forward on new tax rules
On the 31st of January 2020, after a two-day meeting held on 29 – 30 January, the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS issued a statement that updates the state-of-play regarding the work on tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy, and sets forth a revised work program on the Two-Pillar Approach. In this
The OECD releases its Transfer Pricing Guidance on Financial Transactions
The OECD has released its long-awaited final report on the transfer pricing aspects of financial transactions. The report will constitute the 10th chapter of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines (as well as an additional section in Chapter I). It covers a wide range of financial transactions and provides guidance on critical aspects to be considered
Taxation of French-sourced dividends: confirmation of the Supreme Court decision
On 17 December 2019, the Court of Appeal of Antwerp confirmed the position of the Court of cassation in its arrest dated 16 June 2017 (previously commented) with respect to the application of a foreign tax credit in Belgium in relation to French-sourced dividends received by Belgian private investors. Background The case concerned French-sourced dividends
Mandatory disclosure rules for intermediaries (DAC 6) – Belgian law adopted by the Chamber of Representatives
On 12 December, the draft bill implementing the EU Council Directive 2018/822/EU of 26 May 2018, also known as “DAC6 Directive”, has been adopted by the Chamber of Representatives. In short, DAC6 provides for the obligation to declare certain cross-border tax arrangements to the Belgian tax authorities. This obligation is incumbent on both taxpayers
Constitutional Court Annuls the Tax on Securities Accounts
By law of 7 February 2018, the legislator introduced a tax on securities accounts (“taks op de effectenrekeningen”/“taxe sur les comptes-titres”). Many petitions to annul this law have been introduced before the Constitutional Court. In its judgement dd. 17 October 2019, the Constitutional Court annulled the law (and thus the tax), but decided to maintain
