De Tijd is reporting on Wednesday that, on the basis of figures from the FPS Finance, investors paid €289.9 million to the Treasury last year in Belgian stock exchange tax. The value is one-third more than in 2016, as well as being the most significant total amount in such tax, since the dot-com bubble burst in the year 2000.
The tax on stock exchange transactions is a tax on the sale and purchase of shares and bonds, and the sale of capitalisation funds.
There are several reasons for this high increase compared to 2016. Trading in shares recovered following the abolition of the tax on currency speculation. In addition, stock markets have followed an upward trajectory, whilst transactions through foreign intermediaries have been taxed since 2017.
The government increased the rate of stock market tax at the beginning of the year, and is striving for an even greater tax yield next year.
The Brussels Times
