DAC6 directive in Belgium

On 3 June 2020, the Belgian tax authorities published by means of an administrative tolerance a six-month extension of deadlines for the reporting of potentially aggressive tax planning arrangements, as offered by Council Directive (EU) 2020/876 of 24 June 2020.

In concrete terms, this results in the following deadlines for the notifications to be made to the Belgian tax authorities:

• for stocks of cross-border arrangements, i.e. those for which the first step was implemented between 25 June 2018 and 30 June 2020, the reporting deadline for intermediaries and taxpayers mentioned in Art. 326/1, 4° and 5° of the Belgian income tax code is extended from 31 August 2020 to 28 February 2021 at the latest;
• for cross-border arrangements made available for implementation, ready for implementation or the first stage of which was implemented between 1 July and 31 December 2020, as well as for the provision of aid, assistance or advice by an intermediary during this same period, the starting point of the 30-day period for reporting the information provided for in Art. 338, § 6/4 of the Belgian income tax code is extended from 1 July 2020 to 1 January 2021;
• for arrangements designed, marketed, ready to be implemented or made available for implementation without the need for significant customisation, the deadline for communication by intermediaries of the first quarterly update of information relating to these arrangements is extended from 31 October 2020 to 30 April 2021.

The declaration shall be made by electronic means through the following website: www.finances.belgium.be

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Belgium gives intermediaries a right to a waiver from filing information on a reportable cross-border arrangement where the reporting obligation would breach the legal professional privilege under Art. 458 of Belgian penal code and provided that the intermediary has not obtained his client’s consent to report.

In that case, the intermediary shall notify, within the statutory time limit applying to intermediaries who do not benefit from this waiver, another intermediary or, if there is none, the relevant taxpayer, in order for them to declare. The reporting obligation is in this situation automatically transferred to the other intermediary or the relevant taxpayer.

The intermediary is exempted from reporting when the declaration has been subscribed by another intermediary in Belgium or in another Member State, or when the reporting obligation is binding on another intermediary or the relevant taxpayer who has received notification of the obligation to report by an intermediary protected by legal privilege who did not obtain his client’s agreement, provided that the intermediary who benefits from the exemption has not himself received this notification.

In case that the disclosed information is incomplete, administrative fines can be imposed ranging from EUR 1,250–12,500 or EUR 2,500–25,000 in the case of fraudulent intent. This amount may not exceed EUR 1,250 (EUR 2,500 in the case of fraudulent intent) for the first breach in the current calendar year and the three previous years.

Failure to report shall result in the application of a fine ranging from EUR 5,000–50,000. In the case of fraudulent intent, the fines range from EUR 12,500–100,000. This amount may not exceed EUR 5,000 (EUR 12,500 in the case of fraudulent intent) for the first breach in the current calendar year and the three previous years.

This part of the guide aims at identifying statutory rules which depart from the Directive.

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