News Archive

Whilst homeworking is no longer the norm in Belgium, a number of employees who work abroad remain unable to return to their workplace.

At the beginning of July, the Belgian Federal Public Service for Finance (FPS Finance) published the tax return form for the taxation of non-resident natural persons for the 2021 assessment year (income year 2020). The return can be submitted either on paper or electronically. Here is an overview of the key points.

You want to attract and retain top-quality staff. Offering a competitive salary package is a highly important factor. We’re all familiar with offering raises, salary bonuses and other enticements – but have you considered offering insurance policies? These can be a great perk for your staff – and they come with tax benefits. We zoom in on the advantages of group insurance and hospitalisation insurance.

Do you have a foreign company that operates in Belgium? Then it is likely that a permanent establishment has been created in Belgium. Indeed, permanent establishments have become increasingly prevalent in Belgium since the introduction of the Multilateral Instrument (MLI) in 2020.

Belgian companies are required to report payments to tax havens in their Belgian corporate tax return if these exceed EUR 100,000 in value. In their circular of 1 September 2020, the tax authorities expanded this reporting obligation to include Malta and Turkey.

From 1 January 2023, the Belgian tax authorities will be paying closer attention to anyone providing goods or services (such as apartment rentals or meal deliveries) through online platforms. This is due to the adoption of the European DAC7 directive, which stipulates automatic exchange of information for all digital platform operators.

As a director of a foreign company, your mandate may include two separate functions, for which you receive two salaries. Specifically, you could be a member of the Board of Directors and at the same time have responsibility for day-to-day management. In today’s expanding “global village”, where international roles are increasingly common, it can be a challenge to identify exactly what income should be taxed where. Perhaps just in the foreign country? A nice idea, but sadly too simple...

If you have foreign assets, you had better be sure to file an accurate Belgian tax return. Thanks to the international exchange of financial account information introduced in 2017, the tax authorities have direct access to financial data regarding your foreign capital.

We already knew there was an important change in the works for Belgians with properties abroad. Recently, the Chamber approved the legislative proposal to make that change. What does this mean in practical terms for Belgians with foreign properties?

Mandatory closure of many enterprises is having serious financial impacts. Entrepreneurs who rent premises are having to dig into their reserves to bridge this period. Some landlords have responded to this situation by waiving part of their rent.

On Friday 12 February 2021, the Inner Cabinet agreed to extend a comprehensive package of support measures until the end of June 2021. The Inner Cabinet also announced a number of additional support measures.

As always at the beginning of a new year, the Finance Act and the Social Security Financing Act (Loi de Finances et la Loi de Financement de la Sécurité Sociale) include a great number of new features for companies in France. Doing business in France? Are you planning to set up a business in France?Then you might be interested in these new provisions. An overview of the important measures for the coming year...

Dividends distributed to Belgian residents by French companies are subject to taxation in both France and Belgium. Recent developments have served to eliminate this double taxation. As a result, investing in French shares is now actually more advantageous than investing in Belgian shares!

The new ruling regarding innovation income deductions has been in effect since 1 July 2016. This is intended to replace the previous patent income deduction scheme. The transitional rules allow companies to make use of the patent income deduction through 30 June 2021.

On 1 January 2021, Brexit will bring the free movement of people between the EU and the United Kingdom to an end. From this date, Belgians moving to the UK or UK citizens moving to Belgium will be treated as third-country nationals. What does this mean for European nationals who are currently working in the UK, or British workers in our country? What are the specific requirements for employment in another country? We found out for you.

The government has created a compensation scheme for social security contributions over the third quarter as additional support for employers in heavily affected sectors and sectors forced to close due to the coronavirus crisis. The compensation will be equivalent to the basic employer’s contributions and portion of the student solidarity contribution owed by the employer. To help with this measure, the NSSO also recently set up the online ‘NSSO compensation check’ service.

Since 2020, the definition of ‘permanent establishment’ has expanded in scope. Due to the concept’s expansion under both the Belgian definition and the definition in the double taxation treaty, permanent establishment is now more easily achieved. The impact on foreign corporations can be significant.