Belgium assumes Presidency of Council of EU Jan 2024 committing to progress VAT in the Digital Age, Customs reforms and direct tax work
Belgium will take-up the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January 2024 for six months. Belgium is following Sweden.
Belgium has committed to three main streams of tax and customs work during its presidency, including:
- Completion of VAT in the Digital Age negotiations – seeking a final compromise on the three pillars of reforms to the EU VAT regime. In particular, seeking agreement on pillar 1, Digital Reporting Requirements, which has already been delayed from 2028 to 2030 or later.
- Progressing the modernisation and digitalisation of the EU Customs regime. From 2028, there will be a single EU Customs Authority, central database, simplified customs calculations and withdrawal of complex customs declarations. It also features 5 VAT reforms in 2028.
- On direct taxation, Belgium will coordinate progress on the following initiatives:
- implementation of OECD Pillars One and Two reforms;
- Business in Europe Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT) package;
- explore the usefulness of more unified tax rules in other fields over the longer term, such as in relation to mobile workers; and
- implementation of the Unshell Directive and back the Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises (SAFE) initiative.
