The confinement had put on hold tax audits deemed non-essential since last March. But, and even if the tax administration is discreet about it and does not wish to communicate on the axes of controls, these resumed with deconfinement. “Indeed, when Belgium came out of confinement, our friends the controllers began to work too. The controls resumed at a normal pace. With certain favorite themes”, explains the tax lawyer Thierry Litannie, who reminds in passing that the controls relate to previous years, namely 2017 and 2018. “The feeling this year is that we have continued to apply the old recipes more than creating new ones, but we will see in the coming months.”
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1. Assets abroad
“I note quite a few requests for information and checks relating to the exchange of information between Luxembourg and Belgium and between Switzerland and Belgium,” said the lawyer. For several years, the tax authorities have used the information received automatically from abroad on the assets (income, accounts, movable and immovable assets) of Belgian taxpayers outside our borders. “These countries collect data in relation to the income, movable and immovable assets of Belgian taxpayers.”
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“There are quite a few requests for information and checks relating to the exchange of information between Luxembourg and Belgium and between Switzerland and Belgium.”
Thierry Litannie
Tax lawyer
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2. Multi-owners
Multi-owners having lots of buildings are also pinned down by the tax administration, “which considers that at a certain volume / repetition of this activity, it is no longer a real estate activity but a professional activity that would be taxable differently”, specifies Thierry Litannie. And the tax lawyer adds: “We can sense that certain situations annoy the taxman. The fact that private rents are very little taxed is at the origin of controls for timeshare owners. But there is no threshold that precisely defines when we go from the category ‘real estate income’ to ‘professional income’, it is a bit at the head of the client and it is not normal. There should be a legal or administrative position laying down the rules of the game. It is difficult for taxpayers and their advisers to have a clear picture. “
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“The taxman considers that at a certain volume / repetition, it is no longer a real estate activity but a professional activity.”
Thierry Litannie
Tax lawyer
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3. Copyright
Copyright revenues, which benefit from very advantageous taxation, are monitored by the tax authorities, as for many years.
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4. Group insurance for business managers
This is a new axis of control: checking the 80% rule within the framework of group insurance constitutions for company directors. “The premium paid by the company is deductible if the amount meets the 80% rule. The tax authorities now exercise controls on the application of this rule because it found errors,” said the tax lawyer.
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In fact, the premiums are paid in full by the company and are deductible as professional expenses within the limit of the so-called 80% rule, which stipulates that legal and extra-legal pensions, expressed in annual rents, cannot exceed 80% of the last normal gross annual remuneration.
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5. Deductibility of professional charges
Among the other axes in the view of the tax authorities, that of the deductibility of professional expenses. “The position of the tax administration is often to contest the deductibility of a company’s expenses relating to a building which would be made available to a manager as an advantage of any kind. There is a whole debate for the moment on this subject, the tax administration declared war on this type of assembly. It was already the case before, but it takes new developments “, underlines the specialist.
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6. Researchers
Certain companies which conduct research and development programs and employ researchers for this purpose may benefit from a partial exemption from payment of the withholding tax relating to the remuneration paid to these researchers. Each year, the application of this legislation is closely monitored by the tax authorities to verify whether it is indeed research or development.
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7. Horeca
If the catering industry is usually the target of controls by the tax authorities, this year, containment changed the situation. “Given the context, the controllers do not feel they have too much control of this sector at the moment,” underlines Thierry Litannie.
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“Given the context, the controllers do not feel that they have too much control over the catering industry at the moment.”
Thierry Litannie
Tax lawyer
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