Belgian companies currently paya 25% corporate tax on their earnings (or 20% on the first €100,000 of taxable profit if they qualify as an SME) and an additional 30% withholding tax if they decide to distribute those after-tax profits as a dividend. Before, companies often used the liquidation procedure as an alternative to cash out their taxed earnings, as the liquidation tax was only 10%. Since 2014, the liquidation tax rate follows the standard dividend tax rate.
What is the liquidation reserve (LR) and how does it work?
Aiming to reduce the tax burden on dividends, the so-called ‘Liquidation Reserve’ (LR) was introduced in 2015. This allows SMEs to set up a LR for their after-tax profits, so they can benefit from a more favourable tax treatment, instead of paying a hefty 30% tax rate.
Taxation on liquidation reserves: two stages explained
The taxation occurs in two stages: (i) first, the company will pay an additional 10% corporate tax on its current-year after-tax BE GAAP profits that are to be transferred to the LR; (ii) how much tax is due after that depends on the timing of the dividend distribution from the LR:
- a. if the LR remains booked on the company’s balance sheet until the company is liquidated, no additional tax will be due;
- b. for new LRs (after 30 December 2025), if the company waits 3 years before distributing a dividend, an additional 9.8% withholding tax applies, resulting in a total tax burden of 18%;
- c. if the company distributes the new LR as a dividend within the 3-year waiting period, the withholding tax is 30%, resulting in a total tax burden of 36.36%;
- d. for LRs created before 30 December 2025, a transitional regime remains available: the old 5% withholding tax rate still applies after 5 years, the 6.5% rate can apply after 3 years, and distributions within 3 years remain subject to 20% withholding tax.
Different withholding tax rates on liquidation reserve dividends
TAXPATRIA® can assist you with your business accounting and the various compliance formalities required in the context of creating a Liquidation Reserve.