Het Hof van Justitie heeft op 8 september 2022 in de zaak W GmbH (C C‑98/21) het recht op aftrek van de btw op diverse kosten die gemaakt worden door actieve holdings verder genuanceerd. Het Hof heeft geoordeeld dat een actieve holding de voorbelasting alleen kan aftrekken voor zover deze betrekking heeft op haar eigen (btw-belaste) economische activiteiten.

On 15 September 2022, the Belgian Constitutional Court (hereafter: the Court) ruled in the joint cases of Belgian lawyers and the Institute of Tax Advisors and Accountants (ITAA) concerning the implementation of the DAC6 Directive (2018/822 EU) into Belgian legislation (hereafter: DAC6 legislation).  The DAC6 legislation obliges intermediaries to disclose qualifying reportable arrangements to the Tax Authorities but facilitates a conditional exemption for those bound by legal professional privilege. The plaintiffs of the current case all have legal professional privilege and, in that context, challenged the DAC6 legislation based on fundamental rights.

The Belgian Tax Authorities published on 15 June 2022 a new FAQ concerning the VAT treatment of the provision of furnished accommodation (see: NL / FR - hereafter: ‘new FAQ’). The new FAQ provides guidance and clarifications about the amended scope of the exception on the VAT exemption, effective from 1 July 2022.

Additionally, the Belgian Tax Authorities also published an FAQ concerning the temporary application of the reduced VAT rate of 6% for solar panels, heat pumps and solar water heaters (see NL / FR). This FAQ is outside the scope of this news item. For background information on this temporary measure, see our earlier news item here.

After the extensive audit wave in 2021, the tax authorities have started a new wave of tax audits regarding the different exemptions of payment of wage withholding tax.