Belgian Constitutional Court abolishes Tax on Securities Accounts. The tax on securities accounts (TSA) was adopted back in February 2018. As a reminder, the TSA is a tax levied at a rate of 0.15% on the total value of in-scope securities held by Belgian individual...

Reduced dividend withholding tax under new Belgian Company Law. As widely announced and discussed, the new Belgian Code on Companies and Associations entered into force on 1 May 2019. The new law affects every Belgian company, non-profit association and foundation, as...

New tax exemption for Belgian and foreign dividend income. For some time already, interest income earned on ‘regulated’ (Belgian) savings accounts have been tax exempt up to €1,880 per taxpayer per year. Any amount earned above this was taxed at a reduced tax rate of...

No tax increase for insufficient director salary. As we highlighted before, the recent corporate tax reform increased the minimum executive remuneration from € 36,000 to € 45,000 (i.e. salary and benefits in kind). This measure was introduced to prevent individual...

Business expense allowance for freelancers. As from tax year 2019 (income year 2018) self-employed individuals and independent contractors can benefit from the same business expense allowance as employees. Before, freelancers were always required to prove their actual...

New valuation rules for taxable benefit in kind for employer-provided housing. If you are an employee who lives in a property made available to you by your employer, or you are a director of a Belgian company that provides you with free living accommodation, such...

Belgian tax treatment of foreign real estate – the EC is getting impatient. Last November, the EC took the next step in the infringement procedure against Belgium in respect to its current tax regime for real estate located abroad (see our news item of April 27,...

New rules for benefits paid by affiliated companies abroad. Social security: extended interpretation of ‘salary’ Only recently, the Belgian authorities have amended their interpretation of the definition of ‘salary’ for social security purposes (Administrative...

Belgian tax authorities point out red flags that trigger a tax audit. In addition to making sure you report all income and only claim the deductions you qualify for, be aware that certain parts of your tax return tend to trigger more scrutiny. In an official...