by Lisa Heynderickx and Els Van Eenhooge
Reduced scope of obligation to submit 281.50
For certain types of professional income such as commissions, brokerage fees, trade or other rebates, (non-)incidental attendance fees, gratuities, professional fees and benefits in kind, a 281.50 form must be completed for each creditor. This is necessary to be able to deduct such business expenses for tax purposes. Several exceptions already existed, and the law of 21 January 2022 on miscellaneous tax provisions has added an additional exception to this obligation.
This law reduces the obligation to complete such forms for payments to foreign (non-resident) recipients. Whereas before, such forms were always required, even if the provider had also issued an invoice, this obligation no longer applies as long as two conditions are met:
- The expenses in question relate to goods or services provided by a European Economic Area tax resident (European Union, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein)
and
- These activities are subject to a legal or regulatory obligation to issue an invoice or equivalent document
The law also grants the King the authority to determine a threshold below which the form reporting obligation does not apply in any case. This threshold cannot exceed EUR 1,000 and applies “per year and per provider of goods or services”. The amount of EUR 1,000 is not subject to indexation.
These new rules apply to income paid or owed from 1 January 2021. So far, however, the King has not issued a Royal Decree determining the threshold for 2021.
Lisa Heynderickx
Advisor Tax lisa.heynderickx@vdl.be
Els Van Eenhooge
Partner Tax els.vaneenhooge@vdl.be
Disclaimer
In our opinions, we rely on current legislation, interpretations and legal doctrine. This does not prevent the administration from disputing them or from changing existing interpretations.
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