Latest news & developments
Business travel within Belgium: new rules for lump-sum cost reimbursements
General principle An employer can reimburse employees for business related expenses. In principle, the reimbursement of genuine business expenses is not treated as taxable income in the hands of the employees and company directors, as it concerns costs proper to the employer or company. In practice, business expenses are often reimbursed via detailed expense reports
EU Commission launches Proposal for Definitive VAT system
As part of the VAT action plan as launched on 7 April 2016, the EU Commission announced a legislative Proposal for the Definitive VAT system for Cross Border EU Trade. Said proposal was published today (hereafter referred to as the Proposal) and introduces the cornerstones of the Definitive VAT system for Cross Border B2B EU trade. A forthcoming proposal
New daily lump-sum allowances list as from 1 October 2017
An employer/company can pay daily lump-sum allowances for foreign business travel to employees or company directors in order to reimburse certain expenses. If the lump-sum reimbursements for short-term business trips abroad (not exceeding 30 calendar days) are determined on the basis of the list of allowances paid by the Federal Public Department of Foreign Affairs
The cost-sharing VAT exemption is not for financial services, says EU Court
In brief The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU, “the Court”) released its decisions on 21 September 2017 in three cases (Aviva, C-605/15, DNB BANKA, C-326/15 and Commission v Germany, C-616/15), relating to “independent group of persons (IGP)” (also referred to as the cost-sharing VAT exemption). In these three cases, the central question
Notional interest deduction rate for tax year 2019 is 0,746%
The Belgian notional interest deduction (NID) rate for tax year 2019 (accounting years ending between 31 December 2018 and 30 December 2019, both dates included) would be 0,746%. For SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), the NID rate would be 1,246% for tax year 2019. According to article 205quater, §2 of the Belgian Income Tax Code
Circular letter on exit taxation
On 11 August 2017, an administrative circular letter was issued with respect to the Belgian exit taxation rules. Belgium amended, via the Act of 1 December 2016, the Belgian tax provisions on exit taxation largely in line with the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD) requirements on exit taxation. More precisely, the Act introduced amongst others the option
Insights into the EU proposal on mandatory disclosure of tax information by taxpayers and intermediaries
The European Commission, on 21 June 2017, published a draft Directive that would impose mandatory reporting by taxpayers and intermediaries to the tax administrations of EU Member States for various cross-border transactions and arrangements, and the automatic exchange of this information among Member States (see previous coverage). Taxpayers and intermediaries (such as consultants, banks, and
Legislation reform inheritance law published
On Friday 1 September 2017, the legislation concerning the reform of inheritance law was published in the Official Gazette. Belgian inheritance law, still mainly derived from the Napoleonic Code of 1804, will be updated due to the publication of these new texts. The three main topics of the reform are the following: Modification of the
