Practical changes in the Belgian tax authorities´ structure
The Belgian tax authorities have announced that, as from 1 July 2016, a department for non-established taxable persons will be created.
Belgian tax authorities announce structural changes
The authorities will deal with all foreign VAT registrations from this new department called ´Centre Étrangers´.
This is good news for all non-established VAT registered companies as they will most likely deal with tax officers that are more familiar with frequent VAT issues for foreign businesses such as domestic reverse charge, place of supply rules or ECSL reporting. In practice, some tax authorities may also communicate in English. At the moment, it is possible to speak English with certain tax officers, but this depends on the person appointed to each VAT registered business.
Other countries like France, Italy and UK also have a dedicated department to non-established companies. However, some countries like Spain register a foreign business in the closest office to the correspondence address and some others like Germany will appoint a tax office depending on the country of residence of the registered company.