Our
Expertise

The members of the department advise and assist:

• individuals,
• companies active in the different sectors of public and economic life,
• authorities,
• the non-profit sector (hospitals, universities, foundations, non-profit organisations, international associations, etc.),

established in Belgium or abroad in connection with the application of Belgian tax legislation and international tax conventions concluded by the Belgian State.

We mainly assist our clients with respect to the following:

• Prevention and resolution of tax issues or disputes of companies and individuals: finding solutions to avoid tax litigation (preliminary evaluation of tax risks, rulings and contacts with tax administrations) or to resolve issues out of court (negotiations with the tax administration)
• Legal representation and defence before the courts in tax disputes
• Improvement of the tax efficiency of companies' income and expenses
• Application of international tax conventions in Belgium
• Taxation of the assignments of companies run by individuals or companies
• Advice to individuals in connection with the implementation of their professional activity (setting up companies, compensation, management companies, foreign executives) and of their further development (repurchasing of shares, abandonment of business lines)
• Tax organisation for individuals:
      - Personal property (tax efficiency of capital income, estate planning, tax regularisation)
      - Real-estate assets (tax efficiency of real-estate income, real-estate planning, heritage companies, division of property rights)
• Tax efficiency with regard to income and expenses of institutions in the non-profit sector (public and private utility foundations, non-profit organisations, international associations)
• VAT
• Registration fees and inheritance taxes
• Customs duties
• Criminal tax law

The lawyers of the department have in particular been involved in:

• The tax organisation of the movable and real-estate assets of individuals and the tax planning of their succession
• The cancellation by the Constitutional Court of laws introducing excessive taxation
• The legal representation of individuals and companies in disputes regarding criminal tax offences
• Prior rulings by the Belgian Tax Administration regarding the application of tax legislation
• The implementation of subjection to VAT for large Belgian and foreign institutions
• The legal representation before the courts of numerous real-estate companies in litigation relating to the application of VAT
• The out-of-court resolution of disputes with the tax administration regarding the reviewing of VAT deductions
• The legal representation of organisations grouping together several thousand French-Belgian cross-border workers
• Negotiation with the Belgian tax administration in cases concerning the application of customs provisions to the activities of a large group of foreign companies
• The negotiation and resolution of various important disputes relating to excise duties
• The resolution of disputes regarding the taxation of workers from abroad
• The legal representation of individuals and/or legal entities that have been involved in so-called liquidity companies
• Resolving (through negotiation with the tax administration or through litigation) legal disputes regarding the taxation of non-profit organisations (where the Belgian tax administration wanted to subject them to corporate tax)
• Tax assistance during the reorganisation of companies
• Litigation in numerous cases concerning taxation of fringe benefits
• The implementation and negotiation with the tax administration of professional expenses policies within companies
• The application of tax incentives provided by tax shelter legislation in connection with audiovisual production in Belgium
• Legal and tax assistance with the setting up of foundations of public or private utility under Belgian law
• The drawing up of several draft laws in taxation matters
• The regularisation in Belgium of foreign income of individuals and companies

* SC Janson Baugniet CV