The European Commission deemed this regime discriminatory and referred the matter to the European Court of Justice. She criticizes Belgium for having criteria (imposed by law) that are too complex for a savings account from a foreign bank to benefit from the tax advantage. This results in an advantage for Belgian banks.
Several ministers or deputies have already tried in the past to amend the current regime, but they encountered strong resistance from the banking world. Which finds in the savings account a source of cheap financing. Some 300 billion euros are placed in deposit books. A large part of this enormous sum is reconverted into mortgage loans.
Will the next government bond compete with savings accounts?
Broader tax reform
The N-VA and Open VLD want to solve this problem of discrimination. The two Flemish parties have thus tabled legislative proposals. The liberal text establishes a tranche of 1,800 euros exempt from withholding tax, whether for savings accounts or investments, without then affecting the rate of 15% for the savings account. The N-VA recommends an exempt tranche of 2,000 euros but then to impose a tariff of 30%. Its text was examined Tuesday in the Parliamentary Finance Committee. Around ten opinions will be requested, including those of the Court of Auditors, Test-Achats, the FPS Finances and Febelfin. The Engagés, Vooruit, the CD&V and the MR, the other partners in the federal negotiation, immediately made it known that they wanted to include this point in a broader tax reform, which is one of the issues key to the formation of an “Arizona” government.
Unsurprisingly, Febelfin is reserved about the idea of creating a “big basket of savings and investments”. The banking sector federationrecommends the maintenance of a separate dual system of tax exemption, on the one hand for savings and on the other hand for investments. We want to emphasize the fact that savings are essential for the granting of credit to households and businesses. Around 97% of savings deposits are thus converted into loans. It is therefore incorrect to say that these funds are “sleeping”, she explains to us.
The Testachats association, on the other hand, is “for many years in favor of a single tax envelope for all savings and investment income. In addition to fixed income investments, the exempt portion “must also include dividends from shares, investment funds, ETFs, SIRs, etc. In this way, it guarantees a tax-neutral choice of investments, rather than guided by purely tax considerations which may be unsuitable for the investor profile of the company. each”tells us analyst Nicolas Claeys.
