Belgian update regarding deferred MDR reporting deadlines for reportable cross-border arrangements

1. Deferral of reporting obligation

The DAC6 Directive (i.e. the European Union Directive on the mandatory disclosure and exchange of cross-border tax arrangements) imposes intermediaries to report specific cross-border arrangements to the authorities. However, in light of Covid19 and the political agreement between EU member states regarding an (optional) deferral of this obligation, the Belgian Federal Public Service of Finance published a communication on 3 June 2020 (link) that, based on an administrative tolerance, a 6 months deferral of the reporting deadline has been granted.

This results in the following reporting deadlines:

• Reportable cross-border arrangements, where the first step of implementation was made between 25 June 2018 and 30 June 2020, need to be reported before 28 February 2021 (instead of 31 August 2020)
• The period of 30 days for filing information only starts as from 1 January 2021 (instead of 1 July 2020) for:
  • Reportable cross-border arrangements which are made available for implementation, or are ready for implementation, or where the first step of implementation has been made between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2020
  • Intermediaries who – between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2020 – directly, or by means of other persons, provided aid, assistance or advice with respect to designing, marketing, organizing, making available for implementation or managing the implementation of a reportable cross-border arrangement.
• The first periodical report regarding “marketable arrangements” needs to be reported by 30 April 2021 at the latest.

As of 1 January 2021, the 30 days for filing the information with respect to reportable cross-border arrangements starts:

• the day after such arrangements are made available for implementation, or;
• the day after such arrangements are ready for implementation, or;
• the day on which the first step of implementation of such arrangements is taken, or;
• the day after the intermediary has directly, or by means of other persons, provided aid, assistance or advice with respect to designing, marketing, organizing, making available for implementation or managing the implementation of such arrangements.

2. Royal Decree regarding penalties

On 30 May 2020, the Belgian Gazette officially published a Royal Decree (link) with regards to the penalties mentioned in articles 18, 31, 33 and 47 of the Belgian MDR legislation.

In general, there are 2 categories of penalties:

• Penalties regarding incomplete reporting by the intermediaries or relevant tax payers
• Penalties regarding failure to report or late reporting by the intermediaries or relevant tax payers

In the Royal Decree, the (progressive) scales of these administrative penalties can be found.

For your convenience, we have summarized the penalties in the below overview:

This Royal Decree will enter into force on 1 July 2020.

In case you should have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.