On 6 June 2024, the Royal Decree on public country by country reporting (PCbCR) was published in the Belgian official gazette (See also our earlier messages on the introduction of public country by country reporting in Belgium of 4 June 2021 and 17 November 2023). This Royal Decree modifies the Royal Decree of 29 April 2019 executing the companies and associations code for purposes of applying the Public CbCR.
We would like to draw your attention to the following particularities mentioned in the Royal Decree:
- Reference is made to the instructions mentioned in Article 321/2 of the BITC;
- The PCbCR may be filed at the same time as the financial statements, but it is not a part thereof;
- The data for the following jurisdictions must be mentioned in an disaggregate form:
- EU Member Countries
- Jurisdictions mentioned on the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes (this list is updated twice a year);
- Jurisdictions rated by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes as non compliant or only partially compliant with regard to the application of the standard of exchange of information on request;*
- Jurisdictions mentioned on the ‘Belgian’ lists of tax jurisdictions.* **
* These conditions for disaggregate reporting are not mentioned in the Directive (EU) 2021/2101 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 november 2021 amending Directive 2013/34/eu as regards disclosure of income tax information by certain undertakings and branches which serves as a basis for the implementation of PCbCR in Belgium.
** These lists are, for example, the list mentioned in Art. 73/4quater RD/BITC or the list of Art. 179 RD/BITC.
The disaggregation for reporting in Belgium goes further than provided for in the Directive (EU) 2021/2101. Clients with reporting requirements in Belgium should consider whether they need to report such disaggregated information for jurisdictions mentioned under 3. and 4.
The PCbCR includes, where applicable at group level, an overall narrative providing explanations for any material discrepancies between the amount of income tax accrued during the financial year and the amount of income tax paid on a cash basis, taking into account, if appropriate, corresponding amounts concerning previous financial years.
The data to be made public is – to a large extent- in line with the data mentioned in the directive. See also our earlier newsflashes in that regard.
Besides publishing the information of the company’s (or group’s) website, the data will also (need to) be published on the website of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB). In that respect, the Royal Decree provides that the PCbCR must be filed in electronic format with the NBB no later than 12 months after the closing of the financial year. It has to be a separate document in one of the official languages of Belgium and in the same language as the financial statements, according to a common template determined through an implementing act laid down by the European Commission. It may not be integrated into the financial statements. The costs for depositing the PCbCR with the NBB amount to 81,70 euro.
Key Takeaways
It is unclear what should be understood under the instructions in Article 321/2 BITC. This article relates to the sharing of the CbCR based on the Directive on Administrative Cooperation #4 and addresses, for example the filing of the CbCR by a surrogate parent company, by one entity for the group of European companies, etc. What is unclear is whether, for example, surrogate filing would also be possible for PCbCR purposes.
With the publication of the Royal Decree including the content of the report, it would seem that the transposition of the PCbCR directive is now complete. Taxpayers in scope of the PCbCR should be aware of certain options chosen through the transposition in Belgian law, for example the absence of the safeguard close, or the extended disaggregation of data for certain jurisdictions.
Please contact Carla Buyens, Stefaan De Baets, Jonas Van de Gucht or your usual contact at PwC for further information.
