Administrative burden of statements 281.50 to be reduced

Commissions, brokerage fees, trade or other discounts and other fees, allowances or benefits are only deductible if they are justified by statements 281.50 (art. 57, section 1, 1° BITC).

The annual establishment of the statements constitutes an important administrative burden. However, the tax authorities can obtain the information in the statements by other means, such as invoices.

Yesterday, Parliament approved a new draft law which aims to provide an exception for costs linked to the supplies of goods or services by a taxpayer established in the EEA for which an invoice or similar document is established. Such documents include a credit note, a simplified invoice or the internal document issued between members of a VAT grouping.

The draft law also introduces a threshold of 1.000 EUR (not to be indexed) below which the costs per year and per supplier must not be justified by statements.

The new rules, which will result in a considerable reduction of the administrative burden for taxpayers, will apply to commissions, fees,… attributed as from 1 January 2021.