Proposal to amend Decision 2013/53/EU authorising Belgium to introduce a special measure derogating from Article 285 of Directive 2006/112/EC

Summary:

On 20 November 2018 the European Commission presented a proposal for a Council Implementing Decision authorising Belgium to continue to apply a special measure derogating from Article 285 of Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax (the VAT Directive).

Further information:

The VAT Directive allows for the possibility for Member States to apply special schemes for small enterprises, including the possibility of exempting taxable persons below a certain annual turnover. This exemption implies that a taxable person does not have to charge VAT on his supplies and, consequently, he cannot deduct the VAT on his input.

By Decision 2013/53/EU, the Council authorised Belgium to exempt from VAT taxable persons whose annual turnover is no higher than €25,000 until 31 December 2015. This decision was subsequently prolonged until 31 December 2018 by Decision (EU) 2015/2348.

Belgium has requested an extension of that measure for another limited period. Belgium indicated that the special measure reduces administrative burden for taxable persons and for tax authorities, therefore contributing to the simplification of tax collection.

Given a potential positive impact on the reduction of administrative burden for businesses and tax administration without a major impact on the total VAT revenue, it is proposed to extend the derogation for another limited period, until 31 December 2021.