Stock options – Opinion on fiscal regime of stock options in case of a cashless exercise
The Court of Appeal of Ghent confirmed in its decision of 9 September 2014 that the so-called ‘cashless exercise’ of options does not prevent the application of the tax regime as mentioned under the Stock-Option Act of 26 March 1999. The case concerned a doctor company who attributed stock options on quoted shares to his managing director. These
Ex-officio tax relief – Extended application and clarification of the concept of ‘material error’
Within six months (as from the third working day) following the date of sending of the tax assessment notice by the Belgian tax authorities, taxpayers can file a tax claim in order to obtain a rectification. After this six-month period has expired, a rectification in case of surtax can in some cases be requested via
Notion of ‘vesting or payment’ of second-pillar complementary pensions aimed at being clarified by Practice Note
Article 64 of the Program Act of 22 June 2012 (B.S. 28.06.2012) has changed the tax rates applicable to lump-sum payments and surrender values of employer or company-sponsored pensions (i.e. second-pillar complementary pensions). The tax efficiency related to these types of pension plans results from the advantageous tax rates applied to deferred income. Depending on the beneficiary’s
EU case law – Discriminatory tax treatment of foreign real estate income
According to Belgian income tax legislation, individuals who own a (secondary) house or apartment in Belgium (i.e. a built property other than their own dwelling) and who do not let out this property, are taxable on the indexed deemed rental income of the property (also known as “kadastraal inkomen” / “revenu cadastral”, which is significantly
Circular letter on the deductibility of car costs
In a circular letter dated 15 July 2014 (see link below), the Belgian Minister of Finance, Koen Geens, has elaborated on the tax deductibility of the costs relating to cars being put at the disposal of third parties in the hands of whom the corresponding benefit in kind is considered to be taxable. For Belgian
OECD Publishes 2014 Update to Model Tax Convention
The OECD Council approved the 2014 Update to the OECD Model Tax Convention (the 2014 Update) on 15 July 2014. The 2014 Update was already approved by the Committee on Fiscal Affairs on 26 June 2014. The 2014 Update can be found here. The 2014 Update mainly reflects the work that was carried out by the OECD
Update – Exemption method for foreign professional income incompatible with EU Law
As mentioned in our headline of 17 December 2013, Belgium was sentenced by the European Court of Justice for breaching EU law. The relevant judgment indicated that EU law is violated where a taxpayer cannot effectively benefit from personal tax benefits linked to his family status (e.g. increase in tax free amount for dependent children)
Belgian corporate tax deduction rejected for stock option plan cost recharged by foreign parent company
Court of Appeal of Brussels confirms four-year old decision of Court of First Instance of Brussels. We refer to our HRS Headline of 26 May 2010. On 25 June 2014, the Court of Appeal of Brussels confirmed the decision of the Court of First Instance of Brussels of 16 April 2010. According to this decision,
