The annual reports recently issued by the FPS Finance (SPF/FOD Finances) and the Ruling Commission (SDA/DBV) shed light on the Belgian tax administration’s current priorities and highlight the matters in which taxpayers most frequently seek legal certainty through advance rulings.
Below, we highlight several noteworthy developments and trends across our sectors of expertise.
Employer & workforce
Cafeteria plans remain under scrutiny
Cafeteria plans are flexible rewards plans enabling employees to opt for personalized benefit packages within their agreed remuneration envelope. In that context, the RC explicitly flagged that the current rules create a risk of abuse when employers allow employees to receive multiple ICT devices of the same type under a flexible remuneration plan (“cafeteria plans”). The RC considers that the favorable lumpsum benefit in kind valuation should be limited to the first device per category, with subsequent devices of the same type taxed at actual value – which requires a legislative amendment.
=> Employers making use of flexible reward plans should review their policy as to consider limiting the number of same ICT devices over a defined period, before the proposed changes hardens into legislation.
Author’s right: IT back in scope and the 20% ceiling
Further to the new Law of July 15th, 2026, the author's rights regime has now been officially reopened to the IT sector, with retroactive effect as of January 1st, 2026. This reintegration extends to software developers working for internal use or for a client. As a reminder, the IT sector had been excluded from this favorable regime since the law of December 26th, 2022. This was originally heavily debated but was eventually validated by the Constitutional Court in a famous arrest of May 16th, 2024. Under the current, post-2022, regime, 30% of the total remuneration can be granted as a compensation for author’s rights. However, in practice, the RC tends to adopt a more restrictive approach by allowing only roughly 20% of the total package to be qualified as such. Finally, the Law of July 15th, 2026, introduces another modification to the author’s rights regime, i.e., the lump-sum expense deduction of 50% (up to 20,590 euros for income year 2026) / 25% (up to 41,180 euros for income year 2026) is no longer available to taxpayers who do not hold an arts-work certificate. Deduction based on related actual costs incurred remain possible, but the taxpayer bears the burden of proof.
=> Employers linked to the IT sector should reexamine the opportunity of (partially) remunerates their workforce within the author’s rights framework, taking into account the current, post-2022, regime and the latest limitation on lump-sum costs deduction.
Costs proper to the employer remain the most frequent employment tax ruling topic
In 2025, the RC received 168 formal ruling requests concerning costs proper to the employer, making this once again the most common employment tax ruling category.
M&A & Restructuring
Ruling commission updates its position on reinvestment commitments
The RC has recently formalized its position on the reinvestment commitment required for tax-neutral (partial) demergers or contributions. The amount to be reinvested differs depending on whether the shareholder is an individual (broadly, the sale price less direct selling costs and capital gains tax) or a corporate entity (limited to the hypothetical gain that would have been taxed on a direct asset sale). Only investments within the EU qualify, and certain uses of funds - such as real estate or goods made available to shareholders, loans to group companies, or assets acquired from other group companies - are explicitly excluded. Individual shareholders must reinvest into share capital within three months of receiving the sale proceeds, while corporate shareholders benefit from a longer window tied to the statute of limitation period. A recent ruling involving a pre-sale partial demerger followed by an asset sale illustrates how precisely that commitment must be honored: the RC confirmed its existing position that the anti-abuse rule under Article 344(1) CIR 92 does not apply, but only if the sale proceeds are contributed to equity within three months. A subordinated loan to the receiving entity, rather than a genuine capital increase, was held not to satisfy the reinvestment condition: a loan creates a debt repayable to the shareholders and does not increase equity in the way the ruling required.
=> Shareholders considering a tax-neutral (partial) demerger or contribution should structure any post-transaction reinvestment as a genuine capital contribution in a qualifying investment and ensure it is completed within the applicable timeframe to preserve tax neutrality.
Cross-border intragroup debt structures face heightened scrutiny
The RC refused to validate a tax-neutral partial demerger where the stated purpose was to separate intragroup participations - and their associated intragroup debt - from an operating Belgian company, ahead of its sale, when the group had already indicated it would liquidate the new entity within a year. The RC's reasoning was direct: a partial demerger is an instrument for transferring an activity on a going concern basis, not a mechanism for reversing a prior leveraged transaction.
=> Groups planning to carve out intragroup participations and associated debt ahead of a sale should reassess whether a partial demerger is the appropriate vehicle and assess alternate structuring options.
Restructuring rulings continue to be widely used
The figures once again demonstrate the popularity of advance rulings in the context of corporate reorganizations. The Ruling Commission received 100 formal ruling requests relating to restructurings in 2025, making it the second most frequently requested corporate tax ruling category.
Real Estate & VAT
The RC refines the "significant" building notion for reduced VAT rate on real estate demolition and reconstruction.
The 6% reduced VAT rate for demolition and reconstruction applies in split-parcel situations — a configuration that arises frequently in urban development projects - only if at least 50% of the new building is situated on previously built cadastral parcels, failing which the standard VAT rate applies to the entire sale. In the case at hand, the demolished structure on the second parcel was a 14m² steel-framed garage with no cadastral income attributed to it. The RC held that it did not qualify as a significant building within the meaning of the VAT code and commentaries - analogizing it to a garden shed - with the result that the parcel was treated as previously unbuilt, and the new dwelling, being situated for more than 50% on the unbuilt parcel, was subject to the standard VAT rate.
=> Developers structuring split-parcel demolition-reconstruction projects should verify carefully whether they will be (fully) eligible for the 6% reduced VAT rate.
VAT audits reach a record level
The FPS Finances reports that 231,820 VAT audit procedures were conducted in 2025, resulting in the recovery of €1.32 billion. These figures continue a multi-year upward trend.
Final note
The RC has taken an average of 57 calendar days to handle ruling requests in 2025, an all-time best. This is a positive signal to taxpayers who can obtain binding legal certainty on complex transactions within two months - enabling them to structure and execute their operations without delay.
Our team advises on Belgian employment tax, M&A (re)structuring, and VAT across a wide range of sectors, and supports clients in applying for advance tax rulings to ensure a smooth and secured implementation of their transactions. Do not hesitate to reach out.
The annual reports recently issued by the FPS Finance (SPF/FOD Finances) and the Ruling Commission (SDA/DBV) shed light on the Belgian tax administration’s current priorities and highlight the matters in which taxpayers most frequently seek legal certainty through advance rulings.
Below, we highlight several noteworthy developments and trends across our sectors of expertise.
Employer & workforce
Cafeteria plans remain under scrutiny
Cafeteria plans are flexible rewards plans enabling employees to opt for personalized benefit packages within their agreed remuneration envelope. In that context, the RC explicitly flagged that the current rules create a risk of abuse when employers allow employees to receive multiple ICT devices of the same type under a flexible remuneration plan (“cafeteria plans”). The RC considers that the favorable lumpsum benefit in kind valuation should be limited to the first device per category, with subsequent devices of the same type taxed at actual value – which requires a legislative amendment.
=> Employers making use of flexible reward plans should review their policy as to consider limiting the number of same ICT devices over a defined period, before the proposed changes hardens into legislation.
Author’s right: IT back in scope and the 20% ceiling
Further to the new Law of July 15th, 2026, the author's rights regime has now been officially reopened to the IT sector, with retroactive effect as of January 1st, 2026. This reintegration extends to software developers working for internal use or for a client. As a reminder, the IT sector had been excluded from this favorable regime since the law of December 26th, 2022. This was originally heavily debated but was eventually validated by the Constitutional Court in a famous arrest of May 16th, 2024. Under the current, post-2022, regime, 30% of the total remuneration can be granted as a compensation for author’s rights. However, in practice, the RC tends to adopt a more restrictive approach by allowing only roughly 20% of the total package to be qualified as such. Finally, the Law of July 15th, 2026, introduces another modification to the author’s rights regime, i.e., the lump-sum expense deduction of 50% (up to 20,590 euros for income year 2026) / 25% (up to 41,180 euros for income year 2026) is no longer available to taxpayers who do not hold an arts-work certificate. Deduction based on related actual costs incurred remain possible, but the taxpayer bears the burden of proof.
=> Employers linked to the IT sector should reexamine the opportunity of (partially) remunerates their workforce within the author’s rights framework, taking into account the current, post-2022, regime and the latest limitation on lump-sum costs deduction.
Costs proper to the employer remain the most frequent employment tax ruling topic
In 2025, the RC received 168 formal ruling requests concerning costs proper to the employer, making this once again the most common employment tax ruling category.
M&A & Restructuring
Ruling commission updates its position on reinvestment commitments
The RC has recently formalized its position on the reinvestment commitment required for tax-neutral (partial) demergers or contributions. The amount to be reinvested differs depending on whether the shareholder is an individual (broadly, the sale price less direct selling costs and capital gains tax) or a corporate entity (limited to the hypothetical gain that would have been taxed on a direct asset sale). Only investments within the EU qualify, and certain uses of funds - such as real estate or goods made available to shareholders, loans to group companies, or assets acquired from other group companies - are explicitly excluded. Individual shareholders must reinvest into share capital within three months of receiving the sale proceeds, while corporate shareholders benefit from a longer window tied to the statute of limitation period. A recent ruling involving a pre-sale partial demerger followed by an asset sale illustrates how precisely that commitment must be honored: the RC confirmed its existing position that the anti-abuse rule under Article 344(1) CIR 92 does not apply, but only if the sale proceeds are contributed to equity within three months. A subordinated loan to the receiving entity, rather than a genuine capital increase, was held not to satisfy the reinvestment condition: a loan creates a debt repayable to the shareholders and does not increase equity in the way the ruling required.
=> Shareholders considering a tax-neutral (partial) demerger or contribution should structure any post-transaction reinvestment as a genuine capital contribution in a qualifying investment and ensure it is completed within the applicable timeframe to preserve tax neutrality.
Cross-border intragroup debt structures face heightened scrutiny
The RC refused to validate a tax-neutral partial demerger where the stated purpose was to separate intragroup participations - and their associated intragroup debt - from an operating Belgian company, ahead of its sale, when the group had already indicated it would liquidate the new entity within a year. The RC's reasoning was direct: a partial demerger is an instrument for transferring an activity on a going concern basis, not a mechanism for reversing a prior leveraged transaction.
=> Groups planning to carve out intragroup participations and associated debt ahead of a sale should reassess whether a partial demerger is the appropriate vehicle and assess alternate structuring options.
Restructuring rulings continue to be widely used
The figures once again demonstrate the popularity of advance rulings in the context of corporate reorganizations. The Ruling Commission received 100 formal ruling requests relating to restructurings in 2025, making it the second most frequently requested corporate tax ruling category.
Real Estate & VAT
The RC refines the "significant" building notion for reduced VAT rate on real estate demolition and reconstruction.
The 6% reduced VAT rate for demolition and reconstruction applies in split-parcel situations — a configuration that arises frequently in urban development projects - only if at least 50% of the new building is situated on previously built cadastral parcels, failing which the standard VAT rate applies to the entire sale. In the case at hand, the demolished structure on the second parcel was a 14m² steel-framed garage with no cadastral income attributed to it. The RC held that it did not qualify as a significant building within the meaning of the VAT code and commentaries - analogizing it to a garden shed - with the result that the parcel was treated as previously unbuilt, and the new dwelling, being situated for more than 50% on the unbuilt parcel, was subject to the standard VAT rate.
=> Developers structuring split-parcel demolition-reconstruction projects should verify carefully whether they will be (fully) eligible for the 6% reduced VAT rate.
VAT audits reach a record level
The FPS Finances reports that 231,820 VAT audit procedures were conducted in 2025, resulting in the recovery of €1.32 billion. These figures continue a multi-year upward trend.
Final note
The RC has taken an average of 57 calendar days to handle ruling requests in 2025, an all-time best. This is a positive signal to taxpayers who can obtain binding legal certainty on complex transactions within two months - enabling them to structure and execute their operations without delay.
Our team advises on Belgian employment tax, M&A (re)structuring, and VAT across a wide range of sectors, and supports clients in applying for advance tax rulings to ensure a smooth and secured implementation of their transactions. Do not hesitate to reach out.