VAT status of legal entities appointed as directors of Belgian companies: VAT or no VAT?

Abstract

According to an administrative decision of the Belgian Tax Authorities, legal entities appointed as directors, managers and liquidators of companies should register for VAT and charge VAT on their operations, without the possibility of choice for non-taxation, as from 1 January 2015. Physical persons performing identical activities remain, however, outside of the scope of VAT. Pursuant to major unrest of the business community, this new interpretation has been postponed to 1 January 2016. Since no legal basis for this change has been provided, this article intends to provide a factual and legal background and suggests that this new interpretation violates Articles 9 and 10 of Directive 2006/112/EC (the VAT Directive).