Latest news & developments
Winter is coming – holiday gifts to employees
Old Man Winter is knocking at the door and the first Christmas trees are beginning to pop up, marking the perfect occasion to recall the possibility to present employees with year-end holiday gifts – free from social security contributions and income taxes. General principles According to the Belgian social security legislation, gifts in kind, cash
New VAT rules on so called “paid-for-vouchers” will become applicable as from 1 January 2019 in the EU!
On 26 June 2016 an European VAT Directive (EU 2016/1065) was approved to adjust the VAT rules on “paid-for” vouchers which can be redeemed for goods and/or services. This Directive must be implemented in the Belgian VAT legislation as from 1 January 2019, and is applicable to “paid-for” vouchers issued after 31 December 2018. Vouchers remain an
No VAT deduction on deal fees for an intended (not realized) sale of shares
The holding company C&D Foods Acquisition, part of the Arovit group, incurred deal fees in relation to an envisaged but not realised sale of all shares of its sub-subsidiary. C&D Foods acquisition provided taxable services to its sub-subsidiary and claimed input VAT deduction on the costs incurred. The CJEU referred to the Becker case (C-104/12,
Commission requests that Belgium implements the judgment of the Court of Justice on the evaluation of rental income from immovable property
On 12 April 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the difference in tax treatment of immovable income, depending on whether the property is located in Belgium or in another State concerned an infringement of EU Law for which there is no justification. For immovable properties located in Belgium and
Decision of the European Court of Justice: taxation of foreign employment income
In 2017, the Belgian Court of First Instance of Liege referred a question to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for obtaining a preliminary ruling. It concerned the situation of a tax resident of Belgium, employed in a company established in Luxembourg. His position as a financial consultant resulted in the fact
Business travel within Belgium: new indexed amounts for lump-sum cost reimbursements
If certain conditions are met, employers are allowed to make lump-sum payments, which are tax-free in the hands of the employees, in order to reimburse these employees for expenses incurred due to business travel within Belgium. As of 1 October 2018 a tax-free meal allowance of EUR 17.06 (instead of EUR 16.73 per day) is
Belgian tax administration publishes draft circular letter on transfer pricing
On 9 November 2018, the Belgian tax administration published a draft circular letter on the 2017 version of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations (2017 OECD TPG). Interested parties are invited to send their comments on the draft to international.taxation@minfin.fed.be by 12 December 2018. Attention needs to be paid that
Upcoming due date for electronic filing of BEPS 13 related documents: 31 December 2018
All BEPS 13 related documents will, in principle, have to be filed electronically via the MyMinfinPro-website of the Belgian tax authorities (without exceptions). What? A Belgian entity of a multinational group exceeding at least one of the following Belgian GAAP based criteria (during the financial year preceding the financial year most recently closed) needs to
