Belgium is determined to enforce tax penalties to ensure that taxpayers submit their latest tax returns on time. The Finance Ministry has encouraged taxpayers to send in a complete and correct income tax declaration for 2013, to avoid incurring a tax penalty. According to the Ministry less than one percent of all taxpayers have failed to comply with the 2013 filing responsibilities.
The possibility of incurring tax penalties is an additional incentive to submit a timely tax return. If a tax return is not sent in on time surcharges are added to the individual income tax liability, ranging 10 percent to 200 percent of the tax liability, and the surcharges apply even where withholding tax or advance tax payments have been made. The Finance Ministry has commenced various actions to increase tax compliance in recent years, such as the launching of an electronic tax return system, ‘Tax-on-web,’ and simplified tax returns. The Ministry and the tax authority have also made available free advice to taxpayers at a local level in an attempt to improve tax compliance.
