With Belgians and those residing in Belgium now able to file their tax returns online, it's worth addressing this year’s changes to the tax season which include, among other things, shorter deadlines.
Previously, accountants had to submit tax returns via Tax-On-Web before 18 October, but this year they will only have until 15 July. As such, taxpayers have been reminded to contact their mandate holder immediately.
However, these deadlines do differ depending on a resident’s form of income, which will either have to be declared as “general” or “complex.” The “complex” declaration is – as the name suggests – more complex as it concerns foreign sources of income, as well as money made by those who are self-employed and their assisting spouses. This is why their deadline has been extended to 18 October.
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With regard to foreign sources of income, taxpayers with a secondary residence abroad will now have to declare their foreign real estate the same way they do for Belgian properties. The website MyMinfin will provide them with a cadastral income for their foreign residences within 24 hours of their initial declaration.
Finally, as had previously been announced, authorities have made tax returns gender-neutral for married or legally cohabiting heterosexual couples. In previous years, joint tax returns always included the man’s information in the left-hand column and the woman’s in the right-hand column.
This has now been changed with the left-hand column now belonging to the eldest partner, with the younger of the two completing the right-hand column. Those failing to do so will not be penalised though and will be able to modify their tax return.
