As from AY14 (which are financial years ending 31 December 2013 or later), a so called ‘fairness tax’ of 5.15% is levied on certain dividend distributions made by large Belgian companies or by foreign companies with a Belgian permanent establishment, when the underlying profits have not been effectively taxed due to tax losses or Notional Interest Deduction. The introduction of the fairness tax has however resulted in a number of uncertainties as a result of a number of unclear legal provisions, mostly relating to the calculation of the taxable base of the fairness tax (a.o. the appropriate scope of the so-called ‘grandfather rule’).
With the aim of tackling certain uncertainties going forward, the Belgian tax authorities have now issued a first practice note to provide additional guidance. The practice note discusses the uncertainty in respect of intermediary dividends and capital gains on shares, as well as some other topics.
Given that the impact of the practice note on your business should be analysed on a case-by-case basis, we recommend you contact your regular PwC adviser for more info / discussion.
The practice note can be found here: http://ccff02.minfin.fgov.be/KMWeb/document.do?method=view&id=337f93d2-c0da-48f6-8028-8443742de162
