Column Jan Tuerlinckx in Trends: Things can change in the judiciary (28/09/2023)
There once was an entrepreneur. No, this is not the start of a fairy tale, but of my career thirty years ago. That entrepreneur was being swindled by one of his employees, but he didn't take it lying down. He ingeniously set up a system of checks to catch the thief and prove the theft. This did not happen overnight, however
Column Jan Tuerlinckx in Trends : Short-lived legislation! (13/07/2023)
It couldn’t be drier. The last paragraph of page 53 of the coalition agreement of Belgium’s so-called ‘Vivaldi’ government reads: “The possibility of tax regularisation will be discontinued as of 31 December 2023.” Back in 2020, that seemed a long way off. But in just under six months, it will become a reality. The possibility of tax forgiveness, subject to a fair yet substantial settlement, will disappear.
Suppose – purely hypothetically – that you drove much too fast. And to make matters worse, you also got caught on a speed camera. Then, you will of course face a criminal penalty. However, if you do not agree with the amicable settlement offered to you, you will continue to enjoy the presumption of innocence, until a judge convicts you definitively of that offence. It is important for a sentence to only be enforceable once the judiciary has made its final ruling. In other words, after you have defended yourself in all objectivity before an independent and impartial court.
Tax law is a matter of public policy. This is a legal doctrine which means, among other things, that tax law must be applied at all times, that it cannot be deviated from, not even by the court. The competence of everyone and everything related to it is limited to its rigorous implementation. After all, paying taxes is the cornerstone of our society.
Anti-money laundering regulations have gone too far
There was an avalanche of Belgian top tax experts’ comments on Twitter a few weeks ago, following the Supreme Court ruling of 13 October 2020. The stumbling block was the burden of proof in money laundering cases.
Transposition of the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive: preliminary draft law
The transposition of the 5th EU anti-money laundering directive (AML) into Belgian law is currently the subject of a preliminary draft law containing various provisions to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing (Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism - AML/CTF) and to restrict the use of cash.
Doctors have an unenviable position at parties. People bombard them with dozens of medical questions about their ailments, possible medication and corresponding prescriptions, let alone the situation in which and uncle or grandchild makes an unfortunate movement or breaks something.
Almost three years ago to the day, my article “Le cadastre des fortunes arrive” was published under this section. The Central Contact Point (CCP), created by the National Bank of Belgium, has been operational since mid-2015.