Today, the Royal Decrees that contain the various models of the forms Belgian entities need to use to submit the Master File, Local File and CbC Report were published in the Belgian Official Gazette. This is the closing stone of the formal introduction of transfer pricing documentation requirements into Belgian tax law. Together with the forms, guidance on how to use and complete the forms was published. A detailed tax insight is being prepared that will highlight the main aspects of the forms and the timing Belgian companies will need to adhere to.
As regards the local form (to be filed with the tax return), the following timing aspects need to be considered for the first filing:
- Section 1 in which general information on the enterprise needs to be provided applies to the accounting periods that started on or after 1 January 2016;
- Section 3 in which optional documents can be provided that can help the Belgian tax authorities with the interpretation of information provided in parts 1 and 2 of the form applies to the accounting periods that started on or after 1 January 2016;
- Section 2 in which detailed information on intra-group cross-border transactions per business unit will need to be provided (when a threshold of more than 1 million euros of cross-border intra-group transactions is exceeded) will only need to be filed for the reporting periods starting on or after 1 January 2017. As regards section 2, also an optional materiality threshold of 25,000 euros for inclusion of transactions has now been formally introduced.
Finally, together with the transfer pricing documentation forms, also the CbC notification form has been published that could be used to identify the reporting entity for CbC reporting purposes. Please note that the Belgian tax authorities have decided to postpone the first formal notification from 31 December 2016 to 30 September 2017 (latest) for the accounting period that started on or after 1 January 2016.
Further information on the Belgian transfer pricing documentation and reporting requirements can be found here.
