Tax

The Eubelius Tax team assists clients daily in assessing tax opportunities and risks, equipping them to make well-informed decisions. Where appropriate, we also assist our clients in obtaining an advance tax ruling.

The team therefore has a dual focus: providing tax advice, and defending and assisting clients in discussions with the tax authorities during tax audits, administrative appeals or in court.

Some of the cases recently handled by the team

• Advice on all tax aspects related to M&A (identifying risks from the past and translating them to the share purchase agreement, negotiations, optimising the acquisition structure, management incentive packages, post-closing assistance, etc.).
• Advice to various (industrial) families regarding the optimisation of their group structure with a view to an efficient transfer to the next generation, and the tax-optimised distribution of profits. Our work in this respect includes, among other things, setting up direct and indirect (“beer route”) donations and control structures, with attention to the financial and non-financial concerns of the various generations. 
• Assistance to various REITs and investors in REITs in connection with the specific regulatory and tax framework, real estate acquisitions, financing (equity capital markets/debt capital markets), restructurings and international expansion.
• Assistance to Belgian and foreign investors regarding tax-optimised investments in Belgian real estate, including investments through Specialised Real Estate Investment Funds.
• Tax structuring advice in relation to the incorporation of several investment funds. Our work in this respect generally relates to the corporate income tax and VAT aspects related to the incorporation and management of the fund and often includes the filing of a ruling request.
• Structuring of real estate projects for real estate developers in the context of an asset deal or a share deal. We advice our clients on direct and indirect tax aspects related to the realisation of a real estate project, including the VAT qualification of the building, the application of reduced VAT rates, property tax and the application of registration duties on rights in rem. This advice is often accompanied by the requesting of an advance tax ruling, giving the client certainty about the tax consequences of its project.
• Withholding-tax advice regarding international financing instruments (syndicated loans, (convertible) bonds, etc.).
• Corporate tax and VAT advice (including on specific VAT exemptions) in the financial and insurance sector.
• VAT advice to several non-profit and social profit organisations regarding the structuring of their activities.
• Tax advice regarding the setting up of incentive plans for employees and management companies.
• Assistance to Belgian REITs and real estate developers in relation to VAT audits conducted by the VAT authorities.
• Representation of real estate clients before tax courts in disputes concerning property tax and reduced VAT rates.
• Assistance to and representation of clients during tax audits and dawn raids on company premises and in private dwellings by the Special Tax Inspectorate (BBI/ISI).
• Negotiation of out-of-court settlements in tax disputes, including combined tax, criminal and social settlements.
• Representation of clients before all (administrative and judicial) courts, including the Court of Cassation, the Constitutional Court, the Council of State, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights. Recent cases include litigation related to (i) “excess profit rulings” (both at the national level and before the ECJ), (ii) tax consequences (VAT and income taxes) of real estate development projects involving share deals (and their recharacterisation as asset deals), (iii) class actions for undertakings challenging local tax regulations with a significant impact on company businesses (including taxation of energy consumption, business area and automatic cash registers), (iv) tax consequences related to cross-border transfer of a company’s seat, (v) taxation of dividend distributions, (vi) allegations of tax residence fraud by companies and individuals, (vii) tax deductibility of anti-trust fines, various fees paid to group entities and third parties and costs related to share transactions, (viii) R&D tax incentives (including wage withholding tax exemption for qualified researchers, patent deduction, deduction for innovation income and investments in e.g. solar panels etc.), (ix) post-acquisition disputes concerning tax indemnity clauses in SPAs as well as (x) tax-optimised remuneration methods (stock options, warrants, home and company cars provided free of charge), (xi) tax implications of cross-border employment and business activities (permanent establishments, expat regime, etc.) and many more.