New lump-sum amount for reimbursement of business use of private car
Employees using a privately-owned car for business purposes can now be reimbursed a lump-sum amount of EUR 0.3460 per kilometre. Costs that an employee incurs when using a privately-owned car for business purposes can be reimbursed by the employer free of income tax and exempt from social security contributions. Repayment can be made on a
Update – Final (?) practice note on the increase of the tax free amount for dependents when fully/partially working abroad
Referring to our headlines of 15 July 2014 and 23 October 2015, the Belgian tax authorities recently published a new practice note on the increase of the tax free amount for dependents after the Court of Appeal in Antwerp rejected the last practice note in 2015. This practice note updates again the position of the Belgian
Ruling Office – rulings delayed due to annulation of French-speaking Board members
On 28 April 2017, the Belgian Council of State annulled the nomination of the French-speaking Board members of the Ruling Office, due to a complaint by a previous Board member. As a result of the judgement, the Ruling Office will not be able to take any formal decisions before the Board members have been replaced.
Launch of new tax audits in 2017
The Belgian tax authorities have recently announced their new focus areas for upcoming tax audits. The aim is to encourage individuals and companies to fulfil their tax obligations ‘spontaneously’ and in a ‘correct manner’. Taxpayers may expect questions from the tax authorities or a tax audit may be triggered in relation to their personal income tax
Stock options and management companies
On 13 April 2017, a practice note has been published by the Belgian tax authorities with respect to stock options granted to a director/permanent representative of a management company. Unquoted stock options attributed to natural persons and accepted in writing within 60 days following the grant are taxable in Belgium in the hands of the
Benefit in kind for free housing granted by a company ruled unconstitutional by two Courts of appeal
When a company puts a housing at the disposal of one of its directors or employees, the beneficiary is taxed on a benefit in kind. This benefit is assessed on a lump-sum basis. The evaluation depends on whether the housing is given by an individual (100/60 x indexed cadastral income) or by a company (100/60
New wave of tax audits on wage withholding tax incentives
The Belgian tax authorities announced a new wave of tax audits with respect to the application of the Belgian wage withholding tax incentives (more in particular the incentives with respect to research and development, night and shift labour, overtime, etc.). Experience based on previous audits A few years ago, a similar wave of audits
New legislative proposal: net compensation replacing eco vouchers
Members of the four federal majority parties (N-VA, MR, CD&V and Open VLD) have introduced a new legislative initiative concerning the abolishment of eco vouchers and the replacement of this system by cash compensation equivalent to the value of eco vouchers. As an alternative way of payment, eco vouchers are paper or electronic vouchers that
