Statutory financial statements
As you probably are aware, Belgian companies should annually deposit their statutory financial statements with the National Bank of Belgium. Filing should be done within 30 days after the financial accounts have been approved by the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and no later than 7 months after the end of the financial year and corporate income tax perspective (see below).
This means that for companies with a year-end closing per 31 December 2023, the ultimate deadline to file the statutory financial statements is in principle set at the end of July 2024. Note that late filing charges are in principle only applied in case of a filing after 31 August 2024.
Late filing results in a number of negative consequences from a financial and director’s liability perspective:
- increased filing costs are being charged by the National Bank of Belgium as from the ninth month after the company’s financial year-end closing (i.e. as from September);
- potential director’s liability may arise for mismanagement and violation of the articles of association and the Code on Companies and Associations;
- 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 annual accounts by the end of the 7th month after the closure of the financial year (however, the court may grant a regularization period for a minimum term of 3 months including a follow up by the business investigation chamber.).
If your company’s statutory financial statements have not yet been finalized and filed, urgent action is required.
Do not hesitate to call upon our assistance in regularizing your company’s situation or in case you would like to improve your statutory reporting process for the next year-end cycle. Our Belgian experts and our global Statutory COE are available to help you with all your challenges!
Fee forms 281.50
As a reminder, fee forms 281.50 need to be filed on or before 29 June 2024 with respect to (certain – see hereafter) commissions, fees, trade discounts, allowances, fringe benefits, … charged and/or attributed during the calendar year 2023.
If the above-mentioned charges and/or attributions are not properly (and timely) reported on these fee forms , the taxpayer can be liable to a special (non tax-deductible) levy of 100% or 50% (in case the beneficiary is subject to corporate income tax).
If your company still has not yet finalized and filed their fee forms, urgent action is required.
Do not hesitate to call upon the assistance of our tax expert.
Corporate income tax return
Furthermore, the annual corporate income tax return deadline of 30 September 2024 is approaching rapidly.
Individual filing extensions will only be granted in exceptional circumstances (beyond any possible control of the company) whereby the “force majeure” is actually evidenced.
Taxpayers entitled to a tax refund managing to file the tax return by 31 August, will be treated on a priority basis and generally can expect to receive the actual tax refund by 31 December 2024.
Filing a complete (including approved statutory financial statements), timely and well-documented tax return is not only important to safeguard deductions and tax incentives applied, but also to avoid penalties and unnecessary scrutiny by the Belgian tax authorities.
Local form (form 275LF)
Belgian entities that are part of an international group that exceeded at least one of the following criteria (to be assessed based on the stand-alone statutory annual accounts of the Belgian tax payer) in the preceding financial year are required to submit a local form and a master file/form:
- operating and financial income (excluding non-recurring income) of EUR 50.000.000;
- balance sheet total of EUR 1.000.000.000;
- annual average headcount of 100 FTE’s.
The local form has to be submitted by the same due date as the tax return while the master file/form has to be submitted within a period of 12 months after the closing of the financial year.
In the case of non-submission, late submission or incomplete submission, an administrative fine of up to EUR 25.000 can be imposed.
The required filing in XML format is achieved through the MyMinfin platform.
How can we assist you?
Struggling with the latest changes in the reporting requirements or facing a lack of resources to meet the due dates, our Belgian experts are available to help you with all your challenges!
For more insights and support, contact your regular PwC advisor.
