There will be no wealth register to find out which trading accounts are concerned by the tax to be imposed by the Belgian government, Prime Minister Charles Michel told La Libre newspaper and Bel-RTL on Thursday. “We shall work with the bank sector and the financial sector to set up as simple a system as possible” for collecting this tax,” he said on Thursday morning on Bel-RTL radio network.
The tax on trading accounts concerns “very few citizens” and is part of a much broader company tax reform.” In a tax shift, you reduce taxes on work and look for alternative sources of income enabling you to finance missions of collective interest,” the Prime Minister stressed.
Asked about the prospect of a railway strike on the 10th of October next, Michel called on everyone “to exercise calm so as to keep reaping the benefits”. It would not be “acceptable to hold students and people who have to work hostage”, said the Prime Minister, who added that the reason for the strike – the Government’s supposed intention of privatizing the railway company, SNCB, was groundless. The Government has, in fact, limited itself to “assessing, as a good father, its participation in public companies”.
The minimum service, on which the Government has agreed, will not be implemented on the 10th of October because “there is still a parliamentary process over the next few weeks”.
Finally, the key issue for the next few months will be the Energy Pact, which must be negotiated with the federated bodies. “I’ve asked Energy Minister Christine Marghem to speed up the work to reach an agreement in the first quarter of 2018,” Prime Minister Michel said.
The Brussels Times
