July 2019
Challenge regarding the application of a tax law in the domain of wind turbine
It is common for a municipality to adopt a tax regulation in the event of the presence of wind turbines on its territory. This regulation will in principle tax an amount per mast or per wind turbine, sometimes depending on the power of the latter. The legality of this taxation can be challenged on the basis of several arguments, including, in particular, the unenforceability of the tax regulation (irregular advertising), non-compliance with Articles 10 and 11 of the Belgian Constitution (principles of equality and non-discrimination, non-compliance with the principle of the motivation of administrative acts, exceeding the municipality's fiscal autonomy, etc.). [...]
Belgian offshore wind energy
On 4 April 2019, the Belgian Parliament adopted a law which establishes the general principles of the competitive bidding procedure (concurrerende inschrijvingsprocedure) for the realisation of new renewable energy projects in the North Sea, such as it is also the case in the neighbouring countries and in accordance with the European state aid rules. By choosing a competitive bidding procedure as a basis for the granting of domain concessions in the North Sea, the following four objectives were established to be realized by 2030 (cf. explanatory memorandum : https://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/54/3581/54K3581001.pdf ): additional renewable energy capacity (at least 1,75 GW); a maximum of energy delivered to [...]
Ultimate Beneficial Ownership – tolerance until 31 December 2019 !
You, as a Belgian company, have still time until 30 September 2019 to register you ultimate beneficial owners (UBO’s) in the UBO register. The UBO register is the electronic register managed by the FPS Finance. The UBOs of all companies, (international) non-profit organisations, foundations, trusts and legal entities governed by Belgian law, comparable to a trust or a fiduciary, must be entered there. The partnerships are also targeted. The aim of this is to make it clearer to the investigative authorities who are in charge of a tangle of companies and constructions and who could possibly launder money and finance terrorism. Learn more [...]