The Federal Government will look to combat fraud in the food services sector by forcing Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs), such as Belgium’s traditional fast food snacks, to possess a Certified Cash Register System (SCE), La Libre reports. A working group will be established with sector representatives and government experts.
The Belgian Minister for SMEs David Clarinval (MR) is looking to extend the law that already obliges food establishments making over €25,000 (excluding VAT) in annual turnover to put an SCE in place.
The extended enforcement of these registers was first proposed by federations representing the services sector, with the view of better combating social fraud among their establishments. Especially as a report by the SIOD/SIRS - which is in charge of leading Belgium’s fight against social fraud - revealed that half of Horeca establishments inspected in 2022 were in breach of Belgian law.
However, as these inspections are said to be extremely targeted, this figure only represents 928 in 2,875 inspections, a number which the government hopes to increase by extending SCEs, especially given the lack of clarity surrounding the €25,000 threshold.
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This would also see fast food restaurants, where customers can take away but also eat on-site, targeted. According to a spokesperson for the French-speaking Socialist Party, these establishments do not have to include their profits from takeaway sales in their annual turnover, “legal exceptions that can sometimes leave the door open to abuse.”
Moreover, the government will set up working groups with industry leaders in the food services sector to set a new threshold for SCEs, “which will be well below €25,000, but above €5,000,” according to the President of Horeca Brussels, Ludivine de Magnanville.
In exchange, the Minister for SMEs confirmed that establishments may be compensated with "reductions in social security contributions" and "non-taxed overtime."
