Column J. Tuerlinckx in Trends : Fiscal pacification (02/04/2024)
25 years ago almost to the day, the ‘new’ tax dispute resolution legislation was enacted with the acts of 15 and 27 March 1999. It was a major reform. It put a definitive end to the jurisdictional function of the objection stage.
Columnn J. Tuerlinckx in Trends: Getting withholding tax from company managers: an ongoing battle (29/2/2024)
We need to talk about withholding tax. As natural persons, we all pay taxes on our professional income. The personal income tax is settled for each calendar year. You declare your income in the middle of the calendar year following the one in which you received that income
Column J. Tuerlinckx in Trens: The superlative form of legistic negationism (08/02/2024)
Didactics dictates that before discussing a superlative form, the basic form should first be explained. The best thing, therefore, is to start with the concept of ‘legistic negationism’, which is not included in the Oxford dictionary. ‘Negationism’, which is included, stands for the denial or extreme minimisation of generally accepted historical events. In Dutch, the term ‘formal legistics’ is synonymous with ‘legislative technique’.
Column J. Tuerlinckx in Trends: Government liability and the unstable equilibrium of the Separation of Powers (23/11/2023)
Thirty years ago, when I came to the bar as an intern, I was able to experience it. The judiciary was not gentle with the executive at the time. This was even the case in tax matters. If the tax administration violated a procedural rule, that would be disastrous. A tax assessment that was not established according to the rules of the law ̶ and art ̶ was invariably annulled. But things also went further than that
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.
The fiscal antiphrase of innovation policy - Column in Trends of 23 March 2023
Two weeks ago, Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem (Christian Democratic and Flemish party) presented his proposal for the first phase of a broad fiscal reform. It is rather ambitious.
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.
Be careful what you measure (Column in Trends 30/06/2022)
Defining a strategy is not an easy task for a company. It must first set a mission, a vision and a goal. Critical success factors, abbreviated as CSFs, are the key elements to achieve that goal. CSFs are closely intertwined with the mission and strategic objectives
Everything was hunky-dory until the last quarter of 2021. Then, energy prices shot through the roof, with all the ensuing consequences for purchasing power. Everyone's energy bill went up. Or, almost everyone's.
THE BELGIAN COMPANY CODE (Wetboek van Vennootschappen en Verenigingen - WVV) came into effect last month. The possibility to contribute to a company’s capital with one’s work is one of the Code’s signature reforms. Or to put it in the terminology of the old code: it is now possible to contribute to the capital of the company by working for that company.
FISCALITY INFLUENCES our behaviour. People avoid highly taxed transactions or income, preferring tax exemption and low tax solutions. The government has planned for that.
YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE A MARTIAN to not know that elections are coming. A characteristic of our constitutional system is that the House of Representatives then designates the articles of the Constitution which may be amended in the following legislature.
Our Finance Minister announced a few weeks ago the introduction – faster than expected by Europe – of a reporting requirement for accountants and tax advisers. In fact, aggressive tax planning will be the subject of the reporting.