The Belgian finance inspection is investigating hundreds of secret and highly questionable financial transactions between Belgian companies and the fiscal department of Luxembourg. The mediation between the Belgian companies had all been carried out by one intermediary.
The Belgian financial authorities has already managed to reclaim between 5 and 15 million euros, reports De Morgen and Het Laatste Nieuws.
The Grand-Duche was very generous, according to the Belgian financial investigators. “As long as the final beneficiary was not a citizen of Luxemburg and the entity did not carry out any economic activity in Luxemburg, everything was possible", commented a source close to the finance inspection.
The agreements often involved an intellectual property factor where a 1.5% tax rate applied. In other cases, the “creative” tax fraud allowed the companies to escape paying taxes in both countries. Even more shocking was that the agreements were not communicated to the actual companies and only dealt with via the mediator. Luxemburg thus wanted that the transactions would remain as confidential as possible.
The Belgian finance minister Johan Van Overtveldt has not been available for a comment.
(Source: Belga)
