Working in Belgium via Connexion

[Connexion Co]

New Status

Hello Fatboy and fatterboy.

Here is the latest screen shot. those of you who called in or e-mailed to find out what was going on thank you. As discussed with you, it was as a result of a break of commnuication and it has been sorted out as promised. Type
Company

Number 296685

Name
INTERNATIONAL CONTRACTORS CLUB EUROPE LIMITED

Address
16 Windsor Place
Dublin 2



Registered
23/11/1998

Status
Normal
Last AR Date
30/09/2007


Next AR Date
30/09/2008

The 'Next AR Date' refers to the statutory Annual Return Date (ARD). This is a date after 1 March 2002 to which an annual return should be made up. If a company has annual returns outstanding for previous years the obligation to file these returns is a continuing one.

Last Accounts To Date
31/12/2006




Regards

Jason

Very interesting! Struck off in Ireland. Anyone gonna send them money back? All on this site under company search

http://www.cro.ie/search/companyresultse.asp

Type
Company

Number 296685

Name
INTERNATIONAL CONTRACTORS CLUB EUROPE LIMITED

Address
16 Windsor Place
Dublin 2



Registered
23/11/1998

Status
Strike Off Listed

Effective date: 01/03/2009

Last AR Date
30/09/2007

[fm123]

Hi fm, do not hesitate to send me a PM if you want to discuss more in detail this matter.

Good idea. Do you need to be logged on for me to do that? Being new to this forum, I've not sent a PM before.

[DavidJ]

Hello Fatboy and fatterboy.

Here is the latest screen shot. those of you who called in or e-mailed to find out what was going on thank you. As discussed with you, it was as a result of a break of commnuication and it has been sorted out as promised. Type
Company

Number 296685

Name
INTERNATIONAL CONTRACTORS CLUB EUROPE LIMITED

Address
16 Windsor Place
Dublin 2



Registered
23/11/1998

Status
Normal
Last AR Date
30/09/2007


Next AR Date
30/09/2008

The 'Next AR Date' refers to the statutory Annual Return Date (ARD). This is a date after 1 March 2002 to which an annual return should be made up. If a company has annual returns outstanding for previous years the obligation to file these returns is a continuing one.

Last Accounts To Date
31/12/2006




Regards

Jason

Hi Jason,

When will you publish the BTA agreement please ? It has gone very quite. Last time I spoke you, you said things would kick off 1/4 ?

Maybe for the benefit of everyone can you publish the details here ?

Thanks

Dave

[beCo09]

"In addition to the tax shortfalls due for 2007 and 2008, consultants are required to pay a PE (permanent establishment) tax on bonus payments by the BTA. The tax base will be calculated to EUR 7000 on which 34% tax has to be paid per year of activity." (quoted from the BTA Ruling April final)

WTF???? What's this? Can anybody please explain?

[conexion]

This is what CNX is supposed to pay to BTA and not you !!!
PE is a tax to be paid by a foreign company operating in another country. In this case CNX has been asked to pay it and they are just transferring it to you - that´s why the payment is to be done directly to them and not to BTA - very clever !

In general this is a big scam and if anybody thinks that one will get away with it by just paying for 2007 and 2008 is very naive. Believe me, the day you sign the documents you will receive another letter from your local TA for 2003 and on. The law has just changed in Belgium and BTA can go back as far as 7 years. By signing the agreement there is no way you can deny anything of your past. This is what BTA is just waiting for - a solid ground to hit you even harder!!! One thing is certain, they will not miss such an opportunity and they will definitely try to tax you for 7 years once they have your signature. Without it, they will have to make extra effort to prove anything, which is more difficult than you think.

You wonder, how I know it - I just know few people that were as naive as you are and they received an invoice for +100keuro - no negotiations possible!
If you have such money you will be ok, otherwise think before you act.

[oldtimerron]

I can only confirm the warning that conexion above is saying.

In my case I didn't declare some income back in 2000 in Belgium. I was caught, I agreed a settlement, the first settlement was the missing tax for 1 year plus interest, plus a small administrative charge as penalty. I was assured it was the end of the matter.

But after I paid, the earlier years (3 in my case) were reassessed and assumed to be likewise under-declared, (they were not but then the burden was on me to prove it and they simply ignored my proofs). The assessments were harsh, more than the gross even, I didn't have the money to pay them. The tax office loaned me the money at 10% annual interest.

Here I am 9 years later, still working to pay the tax off! It's like being a slave! The harder I work the more taxes I pay, yet I only make a small dent in the back taxes each year. No collateral to borrow from elsewhere. No holidays, just work work work till I'm in the clear.

I wish I had just packed up and left but I stupidly believed I had a duty to my project to finish it. Yet the company recently cancelled my contract and moved the project to Spain, so much for loyalty.

If you have not paid full tax in Belgium before, and you are a high rate earner paying Belgium social tax, you can end up paying 65-70% or more in all the taxes and accountancy costs, even before 10% interest charges on late tax payments. The *average* burden is 60.8%.

http://www.oecd.org/LongAbstract/0,3..._1_1_1,00.html

If you live cheaply you can make 5% spare income, but if you have an unexpected problem and miss a years tax it will take you 15-20 years or more to pay it off.

Compare that with Spain, the expat tax rate is 25%, the social insurance is 250 euros a month. The total tax burden for expatriate consultants is about 30%, you can easily make 30%-40% spare income because living costs in Spain are cheap, so if you have a problem year and fail to pay a years tax, you can catch up the next year. This is why Spain's IT industry is still growing even in this recession.

My advice is to just pack your bag right now and leave, because it never ends and once you settle you will never have the money to leave, you will be stuck like I am.

Sorry to paint such a gloomy picture, but I wish I had never set foot in Belgium, I've worked hard for 9 years and am still in debt, I live on Aldi food, I've lost my marriage, and now my contract is ending I don't believe I will ever get out of Belgium and wake up to curse each day.

Even if you are not using this companies tax scam deals, you will be tainted by the people who were, and they seem to want to confess, judging from this thread (or perhaps they are BTA men pretending to be contractors). So just leave now, no discussions, no notice, no warnings, just pack up and leave.

Or do you want to end up like me?

[azertwerty]

There are only two solutions:

1. You leave Belgium now. This is what BTA is fearing the most and they will act very quickly to prevent it from happening. As long as no letter received it´s not too late.
Do not even try to think that it´s not going to happen or they will forget your name - they already have it .

2. Or, we all stand up and make mco pay the penalties (or at least part of it). If there are only 10-20 of us following this route we could afford the most expensive lawyer in Belgium and he would not have much work to prove that we were just victims of the entire confusion.
Let´s take the following facts into consideration: we were promised a legit and safe salary management solution, we have never been asked to sign a real contract for the so-called "undeclared revenue", we were not even allowed to send invoices for it, we were completely mislead by their intentions, etc, etc. Are we really the only ones in fault here? Ask your lawyer and it will become clear that our line of defense would be strong. I have already spoken to my lawyer and he confirmed that he defended a similar case - nobody paid anything !

The true story is that cnx was caught and since they have no monies they made a deal with BTA; From the ruling it is clear that they never paid PE tax and now they need to rectify it.
Average revenue they earn in Belgium is several k/year per consultant on which they need to pay 34% corporate taxes (or PE if you like).
It is up to them and not you to settle it. YOU MUST NOT PAY IT !!! You will never get any amnesty for it as BTA would not even know how to justify such a payment.

Surely, the second option will cost money and stress but it will be definitely cheaper than what oldtimerron has been paying for the last 9 years.

If you are a lucky foreigner with no Belgium roots just go home - for people like me, I don't see any other options

think about it.

[givemesomemo]

Bankruptcy ?

Interesting ! I've heard from a friend that Datastream the back office of Connexion is filing for bankruptcy !!
Already a collateral damage from the BTA fee we will all have to pay ?

[DavidJ]

Largely in agreement with your comments. Cnx are playing with fire, trying to get contractors to pay their tax monies is illegal, and it won’t work. How could the BTA even condone such an idea? The brashness of the suggestion by Cnx Is frankly breath taking and shows both their naivety and a last ditch attempt to save the boat from sinking. Their general behavior throughout all this has at worst been lamentable and at best akin to some dirty rotten scoundrels who will in time get their just rewards in the bankruptcy courts.

One of the Cnx insiders is squealing. He/she has been briefing various people has even let it be known that plans are well underway for a phoenix like recovery from the ashes by the owner should they decide to pull the plug on the existing setup. So be aware of this.

The MD is being hung out to dry by the owner – who is sitting wistfully in the shadows of Cape Town pulling the strings. The issue, as you so rightly suggest – is that unfortunately the loot has in large part been spent, plunged into a mega property empire in SA most of which is going down in value by the second. The crisis knows no boundaries, especially when the bill is several millions.

Enough people have now consulted enough lawyers to know that yes, there is a case to be heard, many people have emails sent by Connexion over a period of years stating that the scheme they invited people to join was 100% tax efficient and 100% legal. If these were to come before a court, Cnx would have little chance of defeating them. By their own admission – the simple introduction of a ‘new scheme’ admits defeat in that it tells a story of the old scheme being flawed, remember the old scheme was of course promoted by them...

The suggestion of a class action case against Cnx is a serious one. Given the number of manco’s that will ultimately be involved and given the number of consultant’s nationalities some European tax lawyers may well be licking their lips; I think we are only a few weeks away from th momentum gathering enough speed and an approach from an interested legal party..

My bet is that Cnx will ultimately sink as they have very little oxygen left now and have completed their last throw of the dice, albeit not without some gilded brazen bravery. If their proposal isn’t an overtly distasteful attempt at trickery, then I am not sure what is..

On the assumption that their lawyer checked the contents of the letters out prior to distribution it doesn’t make him look very good either.

[drivemenuts]

Let's vote!!!

Just to take the general feeling on the latest proposal...
I created a single question survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?s...Ygb2N2RQ_3d_3d