Due to the recent Coronavirus outbreak, the Belgian government has put together some additional support measures to boost the liquidity of businesses and to insure their continued operation. While different measures have been taken for SMEs and self-employed entrepreneurs, we will only focus on the ones relevant from a tax and social security perspective.
These measures automatically apply to companies, self-employed business owners and private individuals, irrespective whether they experience financial difficulties as a result of the coronavirus.
- The quarterly VAT return for Q1/2020 needs to be filed normally by 20 April 2020 and if there is any VAT due, this should be paid in principle before that same day. Both the filing deadline and payment deadline have now been extended. For the monthly VAT filers, the deadline has been extended as well, without any further penalties being charged:
| VAT filing | Extended until |
| Quarterly VAT filing for Q1/2020 | 7 May 2020 |
| Monthly VAT filing (February) | 6 April 2020 |
| Monthly VAT filing (March) | 7 May 2020 |
- The VAT due for Q1/2020 needs to be paid normally by 20 April 2020 and if there is any VAT due. For the monthly VAT filers, the payment deadline has been extended as well, without any further penalties or late payment interest being charged:
| VAT payment | Extended until |
| Quarterly VAT payment for Q1/2020 | 20 June 2020 |
| Monthly VAT payment (February) | 20 May 2020 |
| Monthly VAT payment (March) | 20 June 2020 |
If you submit your VAT return for February by 4 April 2020, your VAT refund will be reimbursed to you by 30 April 2020. This is two months faster than normal.
- The annual VAT client listing for 2019 that normally needs to be submitted by 31 March 2020, can now be filed by 30 April 2020 the latest.
- Also, the payroll tax payments that are normally due for Q1/2020 or February/March, have been automatically extended, without any further penalties or late payment interest being charged:
| Payroll tax filing | Extended until |
| Quarterly filing for Q1/2020 | 15 June 2020 |
| Monthly filing (February) | 13 May 2020 |
| Monthly filing (March) | 15 June 2020 |
- For both the VAT and payroll tax, additional payment terms can be requested separate from the above-mentioned extensions, without any further penalties or late payment interest being charged. A separate request needs to be filed for this with the Belgian tax authorities.
- For any tax assessments that have been issued (for tax year 2019) after 12 March 2020, the payment deadline for your personal income tax, corporate income tax, non-resident (personal or corporate) tax and legal entity tax will be automatically extended with an extra 2 months in addition to the normal 2-month payment term, without any further penalties or late payment interest being charged.
- Any personal or corporate tax claims that already existed before 12 March 2020, can also benefit from the abovementioned payment terms, without any further penalties or late payment interest being charged. However, a separate request needs to be filed for that with the Belgian tax authorities.
- Finally, also for your (self-employed) social security contributions that are due for Q1/2020 or Q2/2020, you can contact your social security fund and file a specific request to ask for additional payment terms. If granted, the payment deadline would be extended for 1 year (i.e. until 31 March 2021 for Q1/2020 and until 30 June 2021 for Q2/2020). Apart from the possibility to file this specific request, you evidently still have the option to contact your social security fund and ask to lower your (future) quarterly contributions in case the recent Coronavirus crisis would result in a significant loss of professional income.
Please note that, on top of these fiscal support measures due to COVID-19, you might be entitled to certain allowances, replacement income or other financial support measures depending on the sector in which you are professionally active.