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Changes regarding fiscal representation and the submission of the forms 604A,604B and 604C

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Marc Joostens

18 Aug 2021
Subject Tax alert
Categories Indirect Tax
Jurisdictions Belgium

Fiscal representation – Guarantee

Since a fiscal representative is liable for the VAT due, penalties and interests on behalf of the foreign taxable person he represents, the fiscal representative has to pay a guarantee, either through a bank guarantee or a cash deposit. Currently the amount of the guarantee in principle amounts up to 25% of the VAT due on an annual basis. As from 1 October 2021 new rules go into force with regard to this guarantee, applicable in the case of individual fiscal representation and global representation (Royal Decree dd. 29.06.2021 amending Royal Decree n°31). The guarantee has to be made in the form of a bank guarantee or a cash deposit and cannot longer be provided trough a group company. For new files the new rules will already be taken into account.

Changes as from 1st of October 2021
  • The guarantee will amount up to 10% of the amount of the VAT due resulting from the previous 12 months, i.e. the VAT due that has been reported in box 71 of the VAT returns. In case there is no 12-month reference period on which the calculation can be based, e.g. in case of commencement of activities in Belgium, the guarantee will in first instance be assessed on the basis of estimations. The definitive guarantee has to be assessed by the 30th of April of the next calendar year.
  • The amount of the guarantee will at least be 7.500 EUR and will not be higher than 1.000.000 EUR.
  • The guarantee can be annually adjusted. The guarantee will initially be determined for a period ending on 31 December of the second year following the year in which the guarantee was placed. After that period, the guarantee can be revised in case the difference between the new calculation and the previous guarantee is at least 10%. In such case a downwards adjustment of the guarantee can be requested by the fiscal representative and an upwards adjustment can be imposed by the VAT authorities.

Electronic submission of the forms 604A, 604B and 604C

As from 12 July 2021 the submission of the form to activate a VAT identification number (form 604A) , the form to inform the VAT authorities on changes (form 604B) and the form to deactivate a VAT identification number (form 604C) can no longer be done by filing the paper version of those forms but those forms now have to be submitted electronically through MyMinfin. Note that a proxy will be required in case a third party will take care of the filing. In case a taxable person is not in the possession of sufficient electronical means to be able to submit those forms electronically, a motivated request can be filed with the VAT authorities in order to obtain the approval to still submit the paper version of those forms.

Please feel free to reach out to us for any questions you may have regarding the above.