The Netherlands published in the Official Gazette the Competent Authority Mutual Agreement with Belgium on 17 April 2025 on the application of the arbitration process outlined in Part VI of the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI).
The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“Multilateral Instrument” or “BEPS MLI”) allows governments to modify existing bilateral tax treaties in a synchronised and efficient manner to implement the tax treaty measures developed during the BEPS Project, without the need to expend resources renegotiating each treaty bilaterally.
This Agreement is entered into under Article 28 of the Convention between Belgium and the Netherlands for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion concerning taxes on income and capital between the two countries.
Belgium and the Netherlands signed the agreement on 10 March 2025, and the Netherlands signed on 20 February 2025, respectively.
The agreement takes effect pursuant to Article 23 (Mutual Agreement Procedure) of the 1980 tax treaty, as amended by Article 16 and paragraph 10 of Article 19 of the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Provisions. The agreement addresses arbitration requests, arbitrator appointments, the arbitration process, costs, final decisions, and their implementation.
It applies to cases submitted to either country’s competent authority on or after 1 October 2019, when the BEPS MLI took effect for both countries.
