Update on the new expatriate tax regimes in Belgium: no annual listing for qualifying employees in January 2023

Update on the new expatriate tax regimes in Belgium: no annual listing for qualifying employees in January 2023

Beginning of this year a new tax regime for inbound taxpayers and researchers came to light. The ground rules, conditions and benefits can be found in our previous alert (here). On September 30, the deadline expired to opt-in into the new regime or to apply for the new regime for assignments or employments that started between January 1st, 2022 and June 30, 2022. Based on data and statistics currently available, it is clear there is a significant decrease in terms of employees opting in or applying for the new tax regime. This is not a surprise due to the more restrictive conditions to access the regime, and the maximum 5 year timeframe to opt-in for employees working in Belgium prior to January 2022.
 

No annual listing for expatriates active in 2022

In order to be eligible to benefit from the new regime, qualifying employees should amongst others receive a minimum annual remuneration of EUR 75.000. For this purpose the law has foreseen the requirement to provide the tax authorities every year with a listing of all qualifying employees benefitting from the tax regime by the end of January of the following year. However the implementation decree for this requirement has not yet been published, and it has therefore been decided to cancel the first annual listing scheduled for January 2023. Companies will therefore not have to comply with this formality for employees benefitting from the new regime in 2022, for both new employment/assignments or opt-in files. We expect that the authorities will conduct a more in-depth review of the minimum salary requirement at the moment of the opt-in or new application. In any event the authorities should confirm their approval/decision within 3 months following the filing of an application form or opt-in form.
 

Reminder to apply for the extension

The legislator and the tax administration have issued last month the “extension” forms that should be filed for employees benefitting from the tax regime for 5 years in order to obtain an additional period of 3 years under the new regime. This extension is not automatically granted, but should be applied for via a separate filing within three months following the end date of the 5 years period.

The EY specialist team is available to assist companies with their questions. Further updates regarding the new expatriate regimes will be posted on our website.