ECJ Decision (K Oy): VAT rate for non-printed books
On 11 September 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) gave its decision in K Oy (case C-219/13) regarding the question whether reduced rates for books published in paper form should equally be applied to books published on another physical medium, or whether different VAT rates can be justified. The Court has
VAT: Practice note – Retention of documents
The Belgian Income Tax and VAT authorities recently published a combined practice note commenting on the alignment of the Income Tax and VAT procedures as regards the retention of documents. What is new for VAT is the fact that the delivery of a receipt in case of retention of documents by the VAT authorities is
Court of Appeal ruling on travel services provision may affect your VAT position
The Brussels Court of Appeal recently ruled that non-travel agent businesses may be classified as travel agents for VAT purposes if a substantial part of the services they perform relate to travel and accomodation. This classification as a travel agent would mean that the input VAT related to the travel agency activities would not in principle be deductible. Companies should therefore assess
Foreign EU VAT refunds for 2013 require action
Businesses that incurred VAT on business expenditure in the EU may be able to recover this VAT provided they apply the right procedures and comply with the deadlines of 30 June 2014 for non-EU businesses and 30 September 2014 for EU businesses. For non-EU businesses, claims must be submitted with the relevant local EU tax authority
Parliamentary question clarifies whether (for direct tax purposes) “small tools, small equipment and stationary” should be considered as an investment or an immediate expense.
Recently, the minister of Finance answered a Parliamentary question regarding “small equipment, small tools and stationary”, i.e. whether for direct tax purposes, “small equipment, small tools and stationary” should not be considered as an investment and can therefore be directly expensed? According to the Minister of Finance, and based on accounting law, the company should define the valuation rules in
Update on recent VAT developments in Belgium
At the end of each calendar year, a number of important decisions that could have an influence on the VAT situation of your business are usually taken by government officials. Therefore please find below a recap of the most relevant decisions that have already been taken or have been launched for approval in Parliament. Change
New budget measures following agreement of 30 June 2013
On 30 June 2013, the Belgian government has reached an agreement on the budget 2013-2014. The most important new tax measures that are announced in this respect are as follows: “Fairness tax” A “fairness tax” will be introduced for companies not paying any income taxes (due to tax deductions) while they distribute dividends. The rate would be
Update: VAT invoicing
The Act implementing the Invoicing Directive 2010/45/EU has been published in the Belgian Official Gazette. The invoicing Directive 2010/45/EU is based on the study PwC has carried out for the European Commission in 2008, aimed at harmonising and simplifying the Community rules on the electronic sending, receipt and storage of invoices. The new rules will
