People in Belgium who want to file their tax returns online only have a few days left to do so, as the deadline for filing through Tax-on-web via MyMinfin.be expires at midnight on Friday 19 July.
The deadline was previously set for 15 July, but the Finance Ministry announced an extension until 19 July due to technical issues with the online portal. At 02:00 on 16 July, a total of 2,110,744 had submitted their tax return (compared to 2,279,363 last year, but then there was no deadline extension).
"Every year, thousands of people wait until the last minute. In the last few days before the deadline, we see peaks of 80,000 to 100,000 returns per day," Francis Adyns, spokesperson for the Finance Ministry, told The Brussels Times.
"The postponed deadline will perhaps ensure that we have fewer of these peaks and the returns will be more spread out over the four extra days between 15 July and 19 July," he added.
Credit: Belga / Thierry Roge
Additionally, the deadline for paper declarations already passed on 30 June, but paper declarations require human manipulation: affixing a date stamp of receipt, removing them from the envelopes, preparing documents for scanning, stripping them of staples or paper clips, scanning and counting. "Only in September will we know exactly how many there were. We expect about 200,000 this year."
In total, the Finance Ministry expects around 7.4 million returns – all to be submitted by October at the latest. However, more than half (4.1 million) are simplified declaration proposals. If the authorities do not receive a notification that such a proposal was incorrect or incomplete on paper (until 30 June) or via MyMinfin (until 19 July), they will become final.
"In previous years, around 93% of those proposals turned out to be correct and complete," Adyns said. "That means that we do not expect to receive anything around 3.8 million proposals, which will then all become final on 19 July."
Additionally, returns with "specific income" – including self-employed people with complex files and those with overseas professional income – can be filed until 16 October. The Finance Ministry estimated that this number will be around 1.4 million.
How it works
To fill out your tax returns online, go to MyMinfin.be and log in to (or create) your account. The site offers to simplify the process by providing a "proposal for simplified declaration" that completes most of the tax return form automatically. However, this should still be thoroughly checked. If everything is correct, you can click "submit."
Taxpayers with a more complex profile (such as those with expenses that can be deducted), whose fiscal situation changed compared to last year or for whom the tax authorities do not have all the data will have to complete or adapt the form themselves.
At the end of the session, an estimate of the amount to be paid or claimed can be displayed (click "Calculate taxes" in the menu at the top of the page). It is important to keep in mind that this is a simulation, meaning the final outcome could differ slightly.
Credit: Belga
The online tax returns can also be saved for future editing. Once submitted, you will immediately receive a receipt. The completed declaration can be checked in the "My documents" section.
If you realise you made a mistake or forgot to include something, you can also correct your return after you submitted it – but only once. You can do so up to and including the submission deadline of the online declaration (19 July, in this case). Once the deadline has passed, the submitted return is final.
More information about filing your taxes online can be found here.
