News
Withholding tax on Dividends, Interests and Royalties under the new Belgian - Dutch double tax treaty - Main changes
The withholding tax jurisdiction of the source state is limited to 15% for dividends, as before. Withholding tax may (no longer) be withheld when dividends are paid by subsidiaries to parent companies…
News
European Court of Justice ruling: end of the application of VAT on director fees in Luxembourg
On December 21, 2023, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) issued its long-awaited ruling in the case C288/22 “TP” on the VAT treatment of director fees. From a Luxembourg VAT…
News
CAYMAN TAX 2.1 – sharpened teeth or mere dentures? A first update based on the draft bill as finally submitted to parliament.
PREFACE : This newsletter is only a first brief look at yet another very complex draft of cayman tax adjustment. Further analysis is recommended. This is an update of the…
News
Luxembourg minimum net wealth tax provisions declared partly unconstitutional
Main takeaways On 10 November 2023, the Luxembourg Constitutional Court ruled that certain provisions of the Luxembourg minimum net wealth tax were contrary to constitutional principle of equality. Pending a…
News
CAYMAN TAX 2.1 – sharpened teeth or mere dentures?
The draft bill approved at the Council of Ministers meeting on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, proposes a whole number of changes to the cayman tax to ensure - in its…
News
Two new partners join the ranks
Tiberghien is known for its long and rich tradition and is determined to continue its successful path forward. The firm is therefore constantly looking ahead, scanning opportunities for future investments…
News
BEFIT, towards a common corporate tax framework in the EU ?
BEFIT stands for “Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation” and is the object of a draft EU directive proposed by the European Commission on 12 September 2023 (the “Draft…
News
BREAKING NEWS: The new tax treaty between Luxembourg and the United Kingdom enters into force
On 4 October 2023, the law of 18 September 2023 was officially published in the Memorial (the Luxembourg official gazette), so that the new tax treaty between Luxembourg and the…
News
Cayman tax remains applicable under new Dutch-Belgian double taxation treaty
The interaction of the Belgian cayman tax with the various double taxation treaties concluded by Belgium has been the subject of discussion in practice for several years. The question now…
News
Accounting reform in Luxembourg - Draft law submitted to parliament
Luxembourg government launched the first step of a reform of the Luxembourg accounting legal framework. The main objective is to consolidate into one single law the Luxembourg accounting rules currently…
News
New double taxation treaty between Belgium and the Netherlands - implications for individual investors
The double taxation treaty between Belgium and the Netherlands, signed on 21 June 2023, will result in certain changes for private investors. The main concerns are the impact on the…
News
Cross-border telework in Luxembourg: ongoing developments
Under the EU social security Framework Agreement, Luxembourg cross-border workers may telework more often from their state of residence without impacting their applicable social security legislation (provided telework represents less…
News
CBAM regulation adopted on 10 May 2023
On 10 May 2023, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament adopted the new regulation (EU) 2023/956 establishing a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). CBAM is designed…
News
Breaking - The new double taxation treaty between the Netherlands and Belgium
On 21 June Belgium and the Netherlands signed a new double tax treaty on income taxes. Unlike under the current treaty, the scope of this treaty will be limited to…
News
Brazil’ legislator enacts new transfer pricing law
On 15 June 2023, Brazil published a new law establishing a transfer pricing framework that is aligned with the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines (“OECD TPG”). Reforming Brazil’s transfer pricing (“TP”)…
News
Luxembourg tax authorities issue guidance on reverse hybrid rules
On 9 June 2023, the Luxembourg direct tax authority (Administration des contributions directes, the “ACD”) released a 3-page circular – L.I.R n°168quater/1 (“Circular”) in relation to the so-called reverse hybrid…
News
Cross-border telework: increase of social security threshold to 49%
The Administrative Commission for the Coordination of Social Security Systems of the European Union proposed a standard agreement aiming to increase the social security “threshold” for cross-border telework as from…
News
Key Figures in Belgian Estate and Income Tax 2023
The continuing changes in Belgian Estate and Income tax, together with the growing discrepancies between the three Belgian regions, are generating a tangle of regulations that are sometimes hard to…
News
The recent tax and social security reforms on copyright income: what employers need to know
Following an intense debate, the legislator introduced a new tax scheme applicable to copyright income. Main raison for this initiative is the assumed abuse of the until then beneficial tax…
Publications
ICLG Private Client Laws and Regulations Belgium 2023
Griet Vanden Abeele, Alain Van Geel and Emilie Van Goidesenhoven contributed to the International Comparative Legal Guide (ICLG) - Private Client 2023. This publication covers common issues in private client…
Publications
Chambers and Partners Family Law Global Practice Guide
Dominique De Bie & Carolyn Vanthienen contributed to this year's Chambers and Partners Family Law Global Practice Guide. They provide expert insights on numerous trends & developments in Belgian family law. Be sure…
News
Are the tax authorities ‘partying with you on stage’?
Many festivals have announced the first names for spring and summer 2023. We explain below the tax obligations for festival organisers with foreign artists on the bill.
News
Amendments to Hong Kong tax regime not sufficient? Update of the EU list on non-cooperative jurisdictions
Last week, the ECOFIN meeting of the Council of the EU took place, deciding on an update of the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions (the “black list”) and the list of…
News
Luxembourg double tax treaties update : UK, France and Germany
On 20 January 2023, the Luxembourg Council of Government took two different important decisions.
News
Christophe Dillen joins the partners of Tiberghien
Tiberghien continues to grow and evolve to provide its clients with forward-looking services of the highest standard. It is therefore with great pleasure that we announce the appointment as partner…
News
ATAD 3 and more: a brief update
In December last year, the European Parliament published a resolution on the proposal for a Directive laying down the rules to prevent misuse of shell entities for tax purposes (so-called…
News
An informal gift by way of bank transfer in cross-border context: points of interest
The gift by way of bank transfer is a popular technique for making gifts to children or grandchildren. As this article will show, it involves more than simply transferring money…
News
Pillar Two/IFRS Newsflash: IASB consultation on IAS 12 amendements for Pillar Two
On 9 January 2023, the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) published Exposure Draft ED/2023/01 which contains important proposed amendments to IAS 12, the International Accounting Standard dealing with accounting for…
News
Belgian expat tax regime now extended to foreign non-profit organisations
On 1 January 2022, a new expat tax regime was introduced in Belgium that provides for a favourable income tax (and social security) treatment for employees, directors and researchers recruited…
Publications
Fiscal Federalism in the EU. A Dynamic Process With Multiple Dimensions
In 2021 the European Association of Tax Law Professors held its annual conference on ‘History and Taxation’. One topic dealt with Fiscal Federalism. This concept refers to the study of…
News
Pillar Two - OECD’s Recently Released Safe Harbours and Penalty Relief Guidance : Solving key issues that MNEs face, or just a drop in the ocean?
On 20 December 2022, the OECD/G20 GloBE (Global Anti-Base Erosion) Inclusive Framework released, as part of a broader package[1], its Pillar Two Safe Harbour and Penalty Relief guidance document. Numerous…
News
Belgium - Luxembourg 34-day rule to be approved before year-end
On 31 August 2021, Belgium and Luxembourg signed a protocol increasing the 24-day tolerance to 34 days as from 2022.
News
Breaking: the EU’s Pillar Two Directive received required unanimous support
As mentioned in a previous newsflash, the EU Council published a slightly revised draft of the Pillar Two Directive on 25 November 2022. This was done in an attempt to…
News
Partial VAT deduction applying to the real use method: major changes from 1 January 2023
Existing cases: notification required by 30 June 2023 at the latest!
News
International Tax Update: The rise of the interest rate and the impact on valuations and transfer pricing
Behold, the era of free money is no more. This might be hard to digest for governments, companies and investors alike. After an extensive period of record-low interest rates and…
News
Newsflash: EU Council publishes updated draft Directive on global minimum taxation (Pillar Two) in light of next ECOFIN meeting of 6 December
Last year, the European Commission published, as a Christmas present, a proposal for a Directive on ensuring a global minimum level of taxation for multinational enterprise groups and large-scale domestic…
News
Luxembourg: interest free loan reclassified into equity – decision Administrative Tribunal
In the judgement n°44902 dated 23 September 2022, the Tribunal Administrative (the “Tribunal”) requalified an interest free loan granted by a parent company to its subsidiary into equity on the…
News
European Court overturns public access to UBO register
In its judgment of 22 November 2022 (C37/20 & C/601/20), the European Court of Justice had to consider the compatibility of the UBO register and the fundamental rights to respect…
News
Credit of foreign inheritance tax on movable property: the Flemish legislator amends, or not quite?
The distinction between movable and immovable property for the credit of foreign inheritance tax is contrary to the constitutional principle of equality. This was decided by the Constitutional Court in…
News
UPDATE: Morocco postpones exchange of financial information, Belgian tax authorities eagerly investigate Turkish bank information
Morocco has still not conducted a CRS exchange as of 30 September 2022. Morocco has announced a short delay due to technical and legislative reasons. It is expected that Morocco…
News
Luxembourg draft Budget Law 2023 announces several new tax measures
On 12 October 2022, the Luxembourg Minister of Finance Yuriko Backes has filed the draft budget law for 2023 (the “Draft Law”) with the Chamber of Deputies. In a difficult…
News
Breaking News - Constitutional Court’s decision on the annual tax on securities accounts (ATSA)
This afternoon, the Belgian Constitutional Court has delivered its long-awaited judgment on the constitutionality of the annual tax on securities accounts introduced by the Act of February 17, 2021.
News
EU Court of Justice ruling on Belgian participation exemption regime in case of merger (DBI-aftrek/Régime RDT)
On October 20, 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) delivered a ruling on the compatibility with the Parent-Subsidiary Directive of certain aspects of the Belgian participation exemption regime (“dividend…
News
Additional taxes for the Belgian financial sector
A little-publicized budgetary measure involving additional taxes for the financial sector could lead to a snowball of additional taxes on Belgian regulated investment companies.
News
International Tax Update: Arbitration procedures between the Netherlands and Luxembourg can take off
The so-called multilateral instrument (‘MLI’) provides for a simultaneous modification of all double tax treaties which are considered by both signatories of the MLI as a ‘covered agreement’. The MLI…
News
International Tax Update: BAPA manual published by the OECD
The OECD Forum on Tax Administration has published on 28 September 2022 a manual on Bilateral Advance Pricing Arrangements, namely the Bilateral Advance Pricing Arrangement Manual (“BAPAM” or “Manual”). This BAPAM…
News
VAT treatment of Director fees in Luxembourg
On April 29, 2022, the Luxembourg District Court (“Tribunal d’Arrondissement”) submitted a reference for a preliminary ruling in the case TP vs Administration de l’Enregistrement, des Domaines et la TVA…
News
Tiberghien has four new counsels since 1 July 2022
Tiberghien has recently appointed Katrien Bollen, Elisabeth De Nolf, Ahmed El Jilali and Gert Vranckx as counsel, thus building further the firm’s growth and innovation. With these appointments we acknowledge…
News
Tiberghien has appointed two new partners
Tiberghien is known for its long and rich tradition and is determined to continue its successful path forward. The firm is therefore constantly looking ahead, scanning opportunities for future investments…
News
International Tax Update: ‘ATAD 3’ Update: (Probably) a little more time to prepare and avoid burdensome compliance obligations for in-scope entities
At the end of last year, the European Commission published a proposal for a directive to "tackle the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes" (see our previous newsflash on…
News
International Tax Update: Covid measures for social security applicable until year-end 2022
At the European level, it was decided to extend until 31 December 2022 the regime that the competent EU member state for social security does not change for teleworking frontier…
News
BREAKING NEWS: Luxembourg and the United Kingdom have concluded a new tax treaty
A new tax treaty, which replaces the treaty currently in force, was signed on 7 June 2022 in London between the Luxembourg and UK governments (the “Treaty”).
News
International Tax Update: End of covid measures for cross-border workers on 30 June 2022
:: UPDATE 21/06/2022 :: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of employees who used to work abroad have been forced to work from home. In order to mitigate the impact,…
News
International Tax Update: New social security agreement between Belgium and Morocco
Belgium and Morocco negotiated a new bilateral agreement on social security in 2014. After going through the ratification procedures in both countries, the agreement will enter into force on the…
News
International Tax Update : Tax treaties with China and Hong Kong to be covered by the MLI
On 25 May 2022, China has deposited its instrument of ratification for the MLI with the OECD. This means that this treaty will enter into force as of 1 September…
News
International Tax Update: A proposal for a Directive on debt-equity bias reduction allowance (DEBRA)
On 11 May 2022, the European Commission published a proposal for a Directive providing for a debt-equity bias reduction allowance (‘DEBRA’). This directive is part of the Commission’s proposed measures…
News
Luxembourg treaty exemption for the Annual Tax on Securities Accounts at risk?
The Annual Tax on Securities Accounts (hereafter: "ATSA") is applicable (among other things) to securities accounts held in Belgium, even if they are held by non-Belgian residents/account holder. Both the…
Tiberghien Tax Law Manual
