News

We noted a significant increase in the transfer pricing audit activity in Belgium since the beginning of this year. The transfer pricing audit cell sent approximately 200 lengthy transfer pricing questionnaires to multinationals but also to small and medium sized companies and branches operating in Belgium. The transfer pricing audit cell does not have any specific industry or transactions on its radar screen so all industries and transactions types are targeted. Moreover, the Belgian tax authorities enlarged their transfer pricing teams by involving regional tax inspectors that received trainings on transfer pricing over the last couple of months.

On 21 November 2012 the Di Rupo government announced new budget measures. The federal budget plan requires an amount of 3.7 thousand million euros for the 2013 budget in order to meet European objectives. This finds expression (i) in cost-cutting and (ii) in a number of new fiscal measures.

The law containing fiscal and financial measures of 13 December 2012 (Belgian Official Journal 20/12/2012) provides for a number of fiscal measures that were listed in the 2012 federal budget plan, but take effect from 2013 onwards. These can be found in our news article on the 2012 budget measures. 

The programme law dated 27 December  (Belgian State Gazette of 31 December 2012) has adopted a series of tax measures from the 2013 federal budget plan.

Meanwhile another bill of law was submitted at the Chamber, containing fiscal and financial measures, including among other things a revival plan on which an agreement was reached by the federal government already in summer 2012. 

BDO follows the trends and developments in order to give you the very latest available information.

In what follows you will find a brief outline of the information currently available on the announced fiscal measures based on the 2013 federal budget plan and currenlty active legislation. These will exist alongside the 2012 budget measures.

As published earlier on our website, the maximum amount of non-recurring bonuses has been increased to EUR 3,100 for social law purposes (Programme Law of 27 December 2012).

A bill of law has been introduced with the Chamber of Deputies to increase the maximum tax exempted amount.

Zaventem, 21 March 2013 - BDO Belgium and Cockpit Group have decided to join forces, to better support entrepreneurs in structuring, analyzing and interpreting the financial and non financial information within their company. As from May 1st 2013 BDO welcomes Cockpit Group, managed by Grégoire Talbot, with a team of approximately 20 persons.

The new percentages for investment deduction that apply to the assessment year 2014 (income year 2013) have been published in the Belgian Official Gazette.

Investments that meet the legal conditions give the right to a tax exemption on part of the profits and benefits, which equals a certain percentage of the acquisition or investment value. The following percentages apply to investments made during the assessment year 2014.

In September 2011 BDO launched its first App for iPad and iPhone: KMO Cockpit. A further 3 Apps have since been released: PME Cockpit, Belgisch rekeningenstelsel, Belgian TAX Toolbox. In March 2013 we passed the milestone of 10,000 downloads, and the figure is rising daily.

All our Apps can be downloaded for free in the App store.

Our tax colleagues Frederik De Roo and Bart Beheydt have collaborated on the new edition of “Vastgoed in Pocket”. In approximately seven hundred alphabetically arranged headwords, this pocket books answers all your questions about the financing and fiscal aspects of property transactions, environmental regulations and legislation on town and country planning.

BDO moves up in 2012 from the 7^th to the 5^th position in the mid-market M&A European Thomson Reuters Ranking of financial advisors.Thanks to the efforts of the Corporate Finance team of BDO Belgium, BDO ranks 5^th in the ranking of the Benelux area.

You can download the full mid-market M&A Thomson Reuters Tanking under “Interesting links”.

BDO Belgium passes the ceiling of EUR 50 million in turnover

Zaventem, BDO Belgium publishes its annual figures for 2011-2012 and once again records good growth with regard to the previous financial year, including passing the ceiling of EUR 50 million in turnover for the first time ever.

The VAT authorities have finally published the long anticipated guidelines regarding the input VAT deduction on corporate assets that are used for both private and professional purposes.

We are pleased to announce that our colleague, André Kilesse, Chairman of BDO Belgium, has been appointed President of the FEE (European Federation of Accountants) on 13 December 2012.

Download here the press release of the FEE.

Businesses with 20 or less employees will have to draw up each year a plan detailing measures to be taken to maintain or increase the number of employees aged 45 and above.

Below is a brief overview of the requirements in this respect.

Following the 2013 governmental budget agreement, it has been decided to increase the standard VAT rate in the Netherlands from 19% to 21% as from 1 October 2012.

Transitional measures provide that the 19% VAT rate continues to apply in certain cases.

This implies that 2 standard VAT rates will temporarily coexist.

The election of the Fleet Owner of the Year 2012 rewards those people who have provided efficient or innovative fleet management within a company. Michel Grignard was among the prizes, winning a bronze medal. Gold and silver went to Ghislain Vanfraechem and Ingrid Van den Borg respectively.

In October 2012 BDO is issuing the Tax Toolbox App, which you can use to calculate the following:  

• Prepayments: calculate the impact of prepayments on your corporation tax.
• Company car benefit in kind: calculate what the benefit in kind is for your company car.
• Business manager’s home benefit in kind: calculate the benefit in kind for corporate housing for the situation of granting by a legal person.
• VAT Checker: check the validity of a VAT ID number of an EU Member State

In the future, this toolbox will be expanded with new calculation tools.

The App is available for free download via the App Store.

At the beginning of October, sixty recent graduates will begin their careers at BDO in the Audit & Assurance Services, Accounting & Reporting Services and Tax & Legal Services Business Lines. Their first “assignment”: an introductory week in Ostend, where they will be immersed in our values and working methods and also take in the necessary team-building and fun factor as the icing on the cake.

For the fourth year in a row, BDO has chosen a remarkable summer campaign at Zaventem airport. Each year we use this campaign to strengthen our reputation among around 3.9 million passengers who depart from the airport in July and August. All departing passengers will see 35 visuals of 2 m² along the entire Departure route and 2 King Size panels: one in Pier A (Schengen departures), and the other in Pier B (non-Schengen and international departures).

With a view to enhancing the competitiveness of the Belgian harbours, the council of ministers has decided on the basis of its revival plan of 20 July 2012 to abolish the advance payment in respect of the reverse charge mechanism for import VAT (i.e. related to the so-called “ET 14000 license”). In addition, the reverse charge mechanism in relation to import VAT will be extended to global VAT identification numbers. Once the required law amendments have been put in place, a new administrative circular, replacing the existing circular AOIF nr. 1/2008, will be published. The new extended import regulation will take effect from 1 January 2013 without financial impact for the importers.

Last update 21 December 2012

On 1 December 2011 the 2012 federal budgetplan Di Rupo was finalised.

The tax measures in this budget plan have been implemented by means of various legislative initiatives:

• The law of 28 December 2011 containing miscellaneous measures (Belgian Official Journal 30/12/2011);
• The Programme law of 29 March 2012 (Belgian Official Journal 6/04/2012);
• A new programme law dated 22 June 2012 (Belgian Official Journal 28/06/2012);
• The law containing fiscal and financial measures of 13 December 2012 (Belgian Official Journal 20/12/2012)

BDO has also developed some interesting tools:

• Calculation benefit in kind company car
• Calculation benefit in kind free housing

The main topics have been summarised on the basis of the legal sources referred to above.

From the notion of salary for the application of social security contributions are excluded the amounts that are a reimbursement of costs own to the employer. It concerns exclusively professional costs that need to be borne by the employer, in other words which are caused due to the execution of the employment contact (fi. transportation costs, phone,...). The employer must be able to prove with documents that the valuation of the cost is correct. As from January 1st, 2010 the legislator has introduced the principle that in case of discussion, it is the employer who needs to prove the accuracy of the costs.

BDO has won the Solidaritest Best Practice Award 2012 with its SOCOM project. This is an important reward for the social commitment that has always been a major concern within BDO. Even before, each office played its part within its own region in very different domains. Because 2011 had been named the European year of voluntary work, BDO felt it was high time to bring all these local initiatives together and assume an active role, allowing colleagues to make an effective contribution within a well-developed framework – each from his/her own strengths. And so on 1 October 2010 the BDO SOCOM (or BDO Social Commitment) project was created.

The government of current affairs has taken the first cautious steps towards one common approach for blue collar and white collar employees with a new law. Although the position of the blue collar workers has improved financially and especially higher level white collar employees see their notice period being considerably decreased, substantial differences remain. A whole lot more changes will be required to shift to one single employee category.

Below we provide in brief an overview of the most important changes that will take effect as from 1 January 2012, still according to the distinction between white and blue collar employees: