The annual Country-by-Country (CbC) notification requirement has been amended by the law of 2 May 2019 that was published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 15 May 2019. This new law amended Belgian Transfer Pricing (TP) reporting obligations, reducing the compliance burden for Belgian entities obliged to file a Country-by-Country notification form (275 CBC NOT). A new section (§ 3) is included to the Belgian Income Tax Code’s (ITC) article 321/3, which deals with the CbC notification requirement.

The new section (§ 3) in article 321/3 ITC states that the filing of Country-by-Country notification form (275 CBC NOT) is only required if the information provided deviates from what was filed for the previous reporting period (i.e. in case there is a change of ultimate parent entity).

As a result of Belgium implementing BEPS action 13, Belgian resident parent companies (or the Belgian company that is appointed as the surrogate ultimate parent company) of multinational groups with consolidated gross revenue of € 750 million must file a CbCR. In certain specific circumstances the Belgian entity of a qualifying multinational group will be obliged to file a CbCR although it is not the parent company or the surrogate ultimate parent company.

The Belgian legislator announced that the new measure will be evaluated three years after the entry into force in order to determine whether it will lead to incorrect declarations. If considered necessary, it may be reversed. The new measure will enter into force on 25 May 2019 and will apply to reporting periods ending on 31 December 2019 or later.