Press Release: Personal income tax: The Commission refers Belgium to the Court of Justice over discrimination regarding deductions of personal and family allowances for residents with income from foreign sources

The European Commission has decided to refer Belgium to the European Court of Justice for not amending the tax legislation which discriminates against Belgian residents with both Belgian and foreign income. Such residents cannot benefit from a full deduction of personal and family allowances. The Commission considers that this limited deduction of personal and family allowances is contrary to the EC Treaty. The European Court of Justice has already ruled on this issue in a case concerning the Netherlands (Case C-385/00 "De Groot"). Belgium had not changed its legislation despite the Commission's formal request in the form of a Reasoned Opinion of 20 July 2006 (IP/06/1048).