On 2 May 2019, a law was approved including an update on the notification obligation of each Belgian group entity of a multinational group with regard to filing a country-by-country report. The law was published in the Belgian official gazette on 15 May 2019.
The above notification obligation, which is included in article 321/3 of the Belgian Income Tax Code, is one of the transfer pricing documentation requirements that have been introduced recently. Article 321/3 states that every Belgian group entity of a multinational group is under an obligation to notify to the Belgian tax authorities whether it is the ultimate parent entity or the surrogate parent entity or the group entity under the terms of article 321/2 of same Code. If the Belgian group entity is neither the ultimate parent nor the surrogate parent nor the group entity under the terms of article 321/2 of same Code, however, it has to disclose the identity and the residence of the reporting entity to the Belgian tax authorities.
Until recently, the above information had to be submitted on a yearly basis, at the latest on the last day of the reporting period of the multinational group.
The law of 2 May 2019 changes this notification requirement. For reporting periods ending as from 31 December 2019, the notification by the Belgian group entity with regard to filing the country-by-country report will only be required if the information to be provided differs from the information that was provided in respect of the previous reporting period.
