News
International Tax update: Belgian Transfer Pricing Court Case
In a recently published decision dd. 8 June 2021 of the Court of Appeal of Ghent relating to transfer pricing (nr. 2016/AR/455), the Court decided in favor of the taxpayer.…
News
International Tax update: The Belgium - Luxembourg 24 day-rule becomes the 34 day-rule
The salary of a Belgian tax resident relating to days performed in Luxembourg is generally taxable in Luxembourg according to the Belgium-Luxembourg double tax treaty. The days worked outside of…
News
Luxembourg Newsflash: New administrative circular sets guidelines for the imposition of tax fines
The 2017 tax reform significantly strengthened the power of the Direct Tax Authorities to impose tax fines on taxpayers found in infringement of their tax obligations. In this scope, the…
News
VAT registration with a fiscal representative in Belgium: new guarantee rules will create more burdens for foreign taxpayers
A recently adopted amendment to Royal Decree nr. 31 will alter the guarantee requirements for a Belgian VAT registration of a foreign taxpayer with the appointment of a fiscal representative.…
News
VAT and e-commerce: Belgium implements new rules on importer of record
Following the adoption of the law implementing the new e-commerce VAT rules in Belgium, a Royal Decree has been published on 29 June 2021, amending several earlier Royal Decrees on…
News
Asia is stepping up its tax game: faceless tax audits, major tax reforms and much more
The Asia-Pacific Tour of the Tiberghien World Tour brought to light a number of interesting developments in the innovative and changing tax landscape in Asia. Not only are Asian countries…
News
Luxembourg tax authorities update their Circular on interest limitation rules for members of a consolidated group
On June 2nd, 2021, the Luxembourg tax authorities reissued their Circular n°168bis/1 dated January 8th, 2021 on the interest limitation rules governed by article 168bis of Luxembourg Income Tax Law…
News
International Tax update: Evolving towards more OECD-compliancy: the times are changing in the Middle East
The Middle Eastern leg of the Tiberghien world tour showed some interesting developments in tax legislation of this region. These (expected) changes will undoubtedly have a big impact on MNE’s…
News
Can tax related and IT services benefit from the VAT exemption for the management of special investment funds? The European Court of Justice says yes.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) ruled in the joined cases K (C-58/20) and DBKAG (C-59/20) that the management of tax related responsibilities and the supply of…
News
International Tax update: Mutual tax agreements mitigating the impact of Covid-19 telework for internationally active employees extended until the end of 2021
UPDATE 28/09/2021 Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most employees have worked from home for a large number of days from March 2020 onwards. As the taxation of salaries and the applicable…
News
Teleworking due to COVID 19: Luxembourg mutual tax agreements with Belgium, France and Germany still in force.
UPDATE Teleworking due to COVID 19: Luxembourg mutual agreements with Germany, Belgium and France will remain in force until the end of 2021 As covered more into detail here, a…
News
Taxation of (ex-)partners and children
Some points of attention for spouses, legal cohabitants and separated parents You are separated or in the process of separating and are wondering how you will be taxed and who…
News
International Tax update: EU Agreement with regard to Public country-by-country reporting for certain undertakings
On 1 June 2021 the EU Council negotiators and the negotiation team of the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement on a proposed directive on the disclosure of income tax…
News
International Tax update: Biden’s Green Book and the Old Continent
Last week the US Treasury Department released the long-awaited “Green Book”, explaining the tax proposals of the Biden Administration. The final version is shorter and less detailed than expected. Nevertheless,…
News
International Tax update: The ECJ further defines the notion of a VAT fixed establishment
The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) ruled in the Titanium case (C‑931/19) that own staff is required for a (sales) VAT fixed establishment (FE) to be present…
News
Tax Treaty Making in Belgium. Well regulated?
The fact that Belgium has a wide network of double taxation conventions (‘tax treaties’) is positive for the Belgian economy and Belgian taxpayers. Each new tax treaty is welcomed. But…
News
Tiberghien colleague Rik Smet receives honorable mention for prestigious award
In June last year our colleague Rik Smet successfully defended his doctoral thesis on tax treaty making in federations.
News
International Tax update: Tiberghien World Tour PART I - AMERICAS
Last week, on 27 May 2021, we organized the first of four free interactive web events of our Tiberghien World Tour 2021. In these events, local experts of our WTS…
News
International Tax update: European Commission’s view on business taxation in the 21th century
On May 18, 2021, the European Commission announced its vision on “Business Taxation for the 21st century”. It did so by means of a Communication to the European Parliament and…
News
EU General Court judgements: Engie received illegal state aid, Amazon did not
On 12 May 2021, the EU General Court delivered two judgements relating to appeals made against the EU Commission’s decisions taken back in 2017 and 2018. In these decisions, the…
News
International Tax update: Unexpected tax exposure for companies due to home office abroad?
As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, many cross-border workers are working from their home office, which is not necessarily located in the same country as their employer’ office. Also…
News
New e-commerce VAT rules as from 1 July 2021: Watch out for double taxation on e-sales of imported goods with a value exceeding € 150
As from 1 July 2021, the e-commerce VAT package enters into force. As a result, online sales to private individuals will generally be subject to VAT in the EU Member…
News
The CSSF has published a circular on teleworking for supervised entities in a non-pandemic situation
On 9 April 2021, the Luxembourg's financial sector supervisory authority (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier - "CSSF") published CSSF Circular 21/769 on “Governance and security requirements for Supervised Entities…
Events
Tiberghien World Tour: Asia-Pacific (web event)
Events
Tiberghien World Tour: Middle East & Africa (web event)
Events
Tiberghien World Tour: Americas (web event)
News
Tiberghien International Tax update: Wake-up call: European Parliament demands EU to take appropriate action in taxing the digital economy
On April 29th the European Parliament (“EP”) adopted its resolution “on digital taxation: OECD negotiations, tax residency of digital companies and a possible European Digital Tax”. The EP again reiterates…
News
Tiberghien International Tax update: New withholding tax rules on UK sourced interest and royalty payments as from 1 June 2021
With the expiry of the Brexit transition period as of 1 January 2021, the United Kingdom is no longer bound by EU law, including the Interest and Royalties Directive (hereafter…
News
An active UN adopts new UN model treaty provision regarding income from automated digital services
The UN has recently been very active in the area of taxation. On 20 April, the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters agreed to adopting a…
News
Key Figures in Belgian Estate and Income Tax 2021
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
Are tax authorities allowed to exclude persons from forming a VAT group? The European Court of Justice enlightens us again
Decision of the Court On April 15, 2021, the European Court of Justice issued its ruling in the case C-868/19 “M-GmbH” on the scope of the VAT group provisions. In…
News
Luxembourg clarifies financial assistance rules for private limited liability companies (SARL)
Draft bill N°7791, submitted to the Luxembourg Parliament (Chambre des Députés) on 16 March 2020, proposes to amend article 1500-7 of the law of 10 August 1915 on commercial companies,…
News
The Belgium / Luxembourg 24 day-rule: update
Belgian tax resident working in Luxembourg If a Belgian tax resident works in Luxembourg, the question arises where the Luxembourgish salary is taxable. This may be relevant considering the lower…
News
The OECD’s Discussion draft on changing the Commentary on Article 9 (and others)
Article 9 of the OECD Model Tax Convention deals with the (distribution of) taxation (rights in respect) of transactions between associated enterprises. The OECD now proposes changes to the Commentary…
News
Can MLI arbitration finally kick off?
First competent authority agreement regarding MLI arbitration published The Multilateral convention to implement tax treaty related measures to prevent base erosion and profit shifting (‘MLI’) provides the possibility for a…
News
E-commerce: Avoid VAT compliance obligations abroad and register now for the One Stop Shop (OSS)
From 1 July 2021, companies selling goods via web shops will have to deal with foreign VAT and the related obligations much sooner when selling goods to private individuals in…
News
New EU tax transparency rules for digital platform operators officially adopted and published: DAC 7 enters into force in 2023
The European Union Member States agreed to a new measure to tackle the challenges they face when taxing the digital economy. One of the crucial elements for this to succeed…
News
Covid-19 Telework: how to mitigate the fiscal impact?
Due to the Covid-19 government measures, most employees work mainly from their home offices from March 2020 onwards.
Publications
Overview of Digital Platform Reporting Obligations in the EU
After our publication on Belgium’s digital platforms reporting obligations (which you may read here), the WTS Global Digital Tax Law Center has analyzed whether other EU Member States have implemented…
News
Real estate abroad - fulfil your legal obligations in time!
On 11 February 2021, a draft bill was approved by the Belgian parliament amending the tax treatment of real estate located abroad. With this bill, the Belgian legislator aims to…
News
VAT on making cars available to employees: a headache ahead for cross border employers?
On February 11, 2021, the Luxembourg VAT authorities issued a circular with respect to the treatment applicable to making cars available to employees. The Circular offers clarifications upon the judgment…
News
Further clarifications on the exemption introduced for bonuses granted to employees
The 2021 budget law dated 19 December 2020 (the “Law”) added a §13a to article 115 of the Luxembourg Income Tax Law (“LITL”). This measure introduces a new tax regime…
News
Constitutional Court questions the application of the cayman tax to trusts
Previously, in its judgment of 11 March 2020 (A.R. no. 2018/4033/A unpublished)1, the Brussels court of first instance approved an agreement between the Belgium-resident founder of a Canadian trust and…
News
Draft bill to deny the deduction of interest and royalty payments to blacklisted countries as of 1 March 2021 has been passed.
The draft bill published on 30 March 2020 and introducing measures to deny the tax deduction of interest and royalty due to affiliated parties established in a blacklisted jurisdiction has…
News
FIDAL joins WTS Global in France
Tiberghien is pleased to announce a new development within the WTS Global network: since January 2021, the leading French law firm, FIDAL, has joined WTS Global. (read press release) This…
Publications
Real Estate Guide 2020
The WTS Global experts are happy to present to you the fifth edition of the Real Estate Investment Guide. As usual, the guide provides you with a comprehensive overview of…
Info COVID-19
What about import duties for the supply of medical devices?
In the light of decision 2020/491, the European Commission provides, next to the (temporarily) exemption of VAT for certain medical devices, an exemption of import duties that normally apply for…
News
Belgium anticipates DAC 7: New Belgian reporting obligations for digital platforms facilitating the provision of services
General Digital ‘collaboration’ platforms that connect suppliers of services to their customers are subject to new reporting obligations. These were introduced because many service providers (including Airbnb providers) allegedly do…
News
A Circular on interest limitation rules has been issued by the Luxembourg tax authorities
A new circular LIR 168bis/1 (the “Circular”), dated 8 January 2021, was published by the Luxembourg tax authorities on 8 January 2021. This Circular aims to clarify the interpretation and…
Publications
International Comparative Legal Guide - Private Client Laws and Regulations 2021
The International Comparative Legal Guide - Private Client covers common issues in private client laws – including pre-entry tax planning, connection factors, taxation issues on inward investment, succession planning, trusts…
Publications
Tiberghien comments on the OECD Blueprints on Pillar One and Pillar Two
Commenting on the OECD 'Blueprints' published on Monday 12 October, Koen Morbée, partner at Tiberghien Lawyers, and Andy Neuteleers, partner at Tiberghien Economics, urged the OECD Centre for Tax Policy…
News
HR tax & transfer pricing: an unexpected journey
Tiberghien and Tiberghien economics work together on HR tax and transfer pricing, which are two distinct fiscally- and economically-inspired disciplines that have more interaction than is often realised at first…
News
A new chapter in the UBO register saga: the Royal Decree of 23 September 2020
The implementation of the Belgian UBO register has turned into a real saga. The deadline for the first registration has been postponed up to three times (although the last time…
News
Year-end transfer pricing adjustments and their impact on customs & VAT
As the end of 2020 fast approaches, we notice that many multinational companies during the coming weeks/months often perform an annual assessment of transfer prices. The key question asked is:…
Publications
Taxation of Crypto Assets
Taxation of Crypto Assets begins with an overview of the technology and characteristics of crypto assets as well as the key tax concepts and types of taxes that could apply…
News
Luxembourg – France double tax treaty : clarifications on the 29-day threshold
A Circular L.G. – Conv. D.I. n°61 (“the Circular”) has been issued by the Luxembourg tax authorities on 21 October 2020 bringing some clarifications on the point 3 of the…
News
Luxembourg draft Budget Law 2021 announces several new tax measures
The Luxembourg Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna has filed on 14 October 2020 with the Chamber of Deputies the draft budget law for 2021. This draft bill introduces several new tax…
Publications
Private client law in Belgium: overview and Q&A
This extensive Q&A gives a high level overview of tax; tax residence; inheritance tax; buying property; wills and estate management; succession regimes; intestacy; trusts; charities; co-ownership; familial relationships; minority and…
News
T/A economics becomes TIBERGHIEN ECONOMICS
A NEW, YET FAMILIAR BRAND TO UNDERSCORE OUR HOLISTIC VIEW ON OUR CLIENT'S CHALLENGES AND ASPIRATIONS. We are excited to announce that, as per 1 October 2020, T/A economics will…
Events
Webinar – Post-COVID reality: How to manage the risk of double taxation
Tiberghien Tax Law Manual
