Statutory financial statements
As you are probably aware, Belgian companies should deposit their statutory financial statements annually with the National Bank of Belgium. Filing should be done within 30 days after the financial statements have been approved by the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and certainly not later than 7 months after the end of the financial year.
This means that for companies with a year-end closing per 31 December 2018, the ultimate deadline to file the statutory financial statements is in principle set at the end of July 2019.
Note that late filing charges are in principle only applied as from the ninth month after year-end closing (i.e. 31 August 2019).
Next to potential director’s liability due to late filing, any interested party, the Public Prosecutor or a business investigation chamber may claim the dissolution of a company before the Commercial Court when the company fails to file its financial statements by the end of the 7th month after the closure of the financial year. Depending on the claiming party and on the grounds of the case, the Court may grant the company concerned a regularization period for a minimum term of 3 months including a follow up by the business investigation chamber.
And how about Belgian branches?
For Belgian branches, the same due dates apply as for companies, i.e. filing within 30 days after approval of these financial statements but no later than 7 months after the financial year-end.
Belgian branches of foreign enterprises must file annually (unless exempted):
- The head office’s statutory (and if applicable also the consolidated) financial statements, management report and audit report in the standard official form in which they have been drawn up, audited and published according to the legislation of the country in which the head office is located
- The signed first page of the Belgian statutory financial statements
- The Belgian social balance sheet
Note that these financial statements should be filed in the official language applicable for the branch depending on its location, i.e. Dutch, French or German. Therefore they will first need to be translated if not available in the required language.
How can we help?
Do you need support with the compilation and filing of the statutory financial statements or do you have questions in relation to the recording of some specific transactions, don’t hesitate to contact us.
