Important corona VAT measures
June 2021 – Three important VAT measures designed to give entrepreneurs a breath of fresh air were published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 31 March. The changes concern the December advance payment, the refund threshold and the proportional fine for late payment.
Abolition of the payment on account
Until now, every VAT taxable person had to pay an advance payment of VAT in December, which in principle should only be paid in January. This was a purely budgetary operation, the purpose of which was to enable the State to record tax revenues a year earlier. For quarterly tax filers, this was the VAT on transactions carried out in the period from 1 October to 20 December and for monthly tax filers, the VAT on transactions carried out in the period from 1 December to 20 December.
The December advance payment had already been abolished in 2020 as an administrative tolerance, but this time it has been abolished completely and definitively.
Refund thresholds
The second important measure concerns the thresholds for claiming a VAT refund. If the return shows an amount of VAT to be refunded, this amount is in principle carried over to the next return period. You are entitled to a refund, but only if you expressly request it. The VAT to be recovered can only be refunded if it reaches a minimum amount. These minimum amounts are now being reduced.
The new thresholds are as follows:
50 euros if the refund is claimed in the periodic return relating to the last reporting period of the calendar year (instead of 245 euros);
400 euros if the refund is claimed in the periodic return relating to each of the first three calendar quarters by a quarterly filer (instead of 615 euros);
400 euros if the refund is claimed in the last periodic monthly declaration of a calendar quarter by a monthly declarant (instead of 1 485 euros);
50 euros if the refund is claimed in the periodic monthly declaration by a monthly declarant who has an authorization for monthly refunds (instead of 245 euros);
50 euros if the refund is claimed in the periodic monthly declaration that falls within 24 months of the date of commencement of the economic activity by a monthly declarant-starter (instead of 245 euros).
This change has already come into force on 1 April 2021, so that quarterly filers can already benefit from the reduced thresholds for the first quarter of 2021, and monthly filers for the last month of that quarter.
This is not a temporary measure... but it can be expected that the thresholds will be increased when the economy recovers.
Reduced proportional fines
A 15% fine is currently payable for "non-payment and late payment of tax due on the periodic return submitted" if the Chief VAT Controller has sent a notice.
This fine is reduced to 10%, but this is only a temporary measure and only applies to tax due in the period 1 April 2021 to 30 June 2021.
