COVID-19: New supportive Belgian tax measures
On 16 May 2020, after the first wave of supportive measures to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, the Council of Ministers adopted a draft law including new tax recovery measures. These provisions have as main aim to avoid a series of bankruptcies and to help companies to rebuild their liquidity and solvency positions.
COVID-19 #15 Management Participation Schemes under water
The fact that Governments are gradually defining their exit strategy, does unfortunately not imply that managers are already seeing the exit horizon they were hoping for when they invested in the group. As we may have left the path of a buoyant M&A market, a lot of managers may be in dire straits as their
COVID-19 #14 Impact of decreasing EBITDA on interest deductibility
You don’t need a crystal ball to predict that a lot of companies will be confronted with a lower EBITDA than projected. Especially for highly leveraged businesses, this may bring some additional challenges. Indeed, by transposing the interest limitation rules embedded in the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (‘ATAD I’) in national law, Belgian taxpayers may
Update COVID-19 and cross-border employment: Belgium reaches agreement on “force majeure” tolerance for cross-border workers with Germany
As described in our newsflash of 7 May 2020, Belgium has reached an agreement with the Netherlands on a more general force majeure approach. And things are still moving forward. Recently Belgium has concluded a mutual agreement with Germany concerning the situation of cross border workers working from home in the context of the COVID-19
Parliamentary Committee approves corona tax measures
Next to the impact on human health and lives, the COVID-19 pandemic also has a worldwide economic impact. Businesses are being impacted, the economy slows down and families have less purchasing power. In Belgium, the latter is compensated to a certain extent by temporary employment due to force majeure. This week, various measures have been
COVID-19 #13 Liquidation of negative net equity companies
In many groups, the current year financial performance will not meet the budget set at the start of the financial year. The current crisis is immeasurably affecting the economic landscape. When companies are no longer capable of funding their own operations, shareholders may be called to provide financial support. In circumstances like these, it is
COVID-19 and cross-border employment: Belgium reaches agreement on “force majeure” tolerance for cross-border workers with the Netherlands
International travel restrictions and COVID-19 lock down measures, imposed by governments during the coronacrisis in order to “flatten the curve”, are pushing cross-border workers into a continuous home working scenario for many weeks now. Working days abroad are no longer an option. As stated by the OECD guidance, exceptional circumstances call for an exceptional level
EBITDA Interest Limitation Rule: New Circular Letter avoids unintended consequences when obtaining payment holidays
On 5 May 2020, the Belgian tax administration published its Circular Letter 2020/C/62 on specific payment holidays negotiated in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. More in particular, this circular accepts that certain loans will not lose their “grandfathered” status in case specific modifications are negotiated to loan agreements so to bridge temporary payment difficulties.
