Update COVID-19 and cross-border employment: agreement with France extended
We refer to our newsflash of 1 September 2020 in which we announced the extension until 31 December 2020 of the mutual agreement between Belgium and France, which includes a “force majeure tolerance” for cross-border workers in relation to COVID-19 (travel) restrictions. Currently, most European countries (including Belgium and France) are trying to overcome “the
Cadastral income for properties abroad?
On 12 November 2020 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) imposed a lump-sum fine of EUR 2 million and a daily penalty of EUR 7.500 for each day that the Belgian tax authorities continue to maintain a difference in tax treatment for rental income depending on whether the property is located in Belgium or abroad.
Update – American Belgians risk losing their Belgian bank account
As stated in our newsflash of 23 August 2019, Belgians with the American nationality risk losing their Belgian bank accounts because of the strict application of the U.S. FATCA-legislation. In reply to a recent parliamentary question, the Minister of Finance provided further input on this matter going forward. Accidental Americans In application of the Foreign
National courts to interpret milestone EU Danish cases on beneficial ownership and abuse
On 26 February 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued its judgments in the so-called “Danish cases”. The underlying question of these cases was whether dividend and interest payments could be exempt from withholding tax under the EU Parent Subsidiary and Interest & Royalty Directives, when the payments were made from
Commission refers Belgium to the European Court of Justice: deduction of alimony payments for non-residents
As stated in a press release on 30 October 2020, the European Commission decided to refer Belgium to the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding its legislation on the deductibility of alimony payments from the taxable income of non-resident taxpayers. According to current Belgian legislation, alimony payments cannot be deducted from the taxable
Expatriate tax regime: educational expenses can be reimbursed tax-free as from the age of 5 (3rd kindergarten)
The compulsory school age throughout Belgium has been lowered from 6 years to 5. As from September 2020, all children that reach the age of 5 are considered of school age. This can also have an impact for companies employing foreigners under the special tax regime for foreign executives and specialists in Belgium. Costs proper
The OECD published its blueprints on pillar 1 and 2 – get the latest insights via our webcast.
The OECD released ‘Blueprints’ on the tax digitalisation/globalisation project on Monday 12 October. These two Blueprints cover Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 in the project framework previously announced. Pillar 1 looks at the attribution of revenues to market jurisdictions. Pillar 2 deals with the imposition of a minimum tax. The Blueprints indicate the degree of
High net worth individuals on the radar of Vivaldi!
One of the measures announced by the newly formed government (“the Vivaldi coalition”) is the taxation of the major financial transactions (“MFTT”). Although only the main principles of this tax are known at this stage, the purpose would be to tax high net worth individuals. The impact of the tax is estimated between 150 to
