Reply to: Contracting in Belgium - A Short Guide to Tax and Social Security

[MPwannadecentincome]

Can someone please advise?
Im looking to start a contract in antwerp in the summer,
I would like to use my UK LTD company,
Can send myself as a secondment and apply for a single permit OR do i need to apply for a Professional card and work as self employed basis ?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

lee

Depends and is more complicated after Brexit in terms of ability to work what the visa rules are, nobody has been able to test these yet because of coronavirus travel restrictions and my attempts at getting clarification have been stonewalled as nobody wants to commit to any specific guidance until the coronavirus travel restrictions are lifted. You are best to seek professional advice.

[Savage005]

Can someone please advise?
Im looking to start a contract in antwerp in the summer,
I would like to use my UK LTD company,
Can send myself as a secondment and apply for a single permit OR do i need to apply for a Professional card and work as self employed basis ?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

lee

[Jolie]

You have been misinformed: travel days definitely do not count in Belgian law in respect of the 183 days. That used to also be the case in the UK but GB backtracked and specifically changed the law, that has not happened in Belgium hence travelling days do not count towards the 183 days there.

Did this ever get clarified?

I didn't take the Belgium contract in the end, thanks to much of the advice offered in this thread.

But this got me thinking. I know a guy who used to fly in from France to service a contract. With the increase in low cost carriers, it's not beyond the realms of possibility to fly to Brussels, do a days work and fly back, especially if you live close to your airport.

My understanding for the UK was that a day is classed as going past midnight. If travel days don't count, what is classed as a day in Belgium?

[tomex99]

I think there is some misunderstanding in my post.

Just to summarize. I am tax resident in Poland and i am paying taxes in Poland ( flying every weekend there and running my own company). What i am afraid of is that i can still doing it legally while working in Belgium but not crossing 183 days worked in Belgium so the Belgium tax authorities will not tax me.

regards

The 183 days rule applies only if you are an employee delegated to work in a foreign country. Because you are a Polish tax resident, you have unlimited tax liability to pay taxes on your world-wide income in Poland AND in a foreign country on your foreign-sourced income, but DTA protects you from double taxation and makes you pay only in the country where you have "establishment" - a fixed base regularly available in another country, potentially a desk with a chair. If you want to be a good soldier of Jesus, you will need to set up a company in the Netherlands/Belgium to be taxable there.

[BlasterBates]

I think there is some misunderstanding in my post.

Just to summarize. I am tax resident in Poland and i am paying taxes in Poland ( flying every weekend there and running my own company). What i am afraid of is that i can still doing it legally while working in Belgium but not crossing 183 days worked in Belgium so the Belgium tax authorities will not tax me.

regards

No there is no misunderstanding, the 183 day rule does not exempt you from paying tax in Belgium. You are liable for tax on all Belgian income even if you are not resident.

The fact that you are resident in Poland and not Belgium means you need to declare your Belgian income in Poland as well as in Belgium.

As an example here is the guide to paying tax for non-residents in the UK.

Guide to tax if you live abroad

You usually have to pay tax on your UK income even if you’re not a UK resident

futhermore:

If you live abroad and are employed in the UK, your tax is calculated automatically on the days you work in the UK.

I've posted the link because this principle applies in most countries.

[GhostofTarbera]

I think there is some misunderstanding in my post.

Just to summarize. I am tax resident in Poland and i am paying taxes in Poland ( flying every weekend there and running my own company). What i am afraid of is that i can still doing it legally while working in Belgium but not crossing 183 days worked in Belgium so the Belgium tax authorities will not tax me.

regards

Lol

You pay Belgium tax from day 1


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[choodzik]

I think there is some misunderstanding in my post.

Just to summarize. I am tax resident in Poland and i am paying taxes in Poland ( flying every weekend there and running my own company). What i am afraid of is that i can still doing it legally while working in Belgium but not crossing 183 days worked in Belgium so the Belgium tax authorities will not tax me.

regards

[Brussels Slumdog]

You are a tax resident and if you are also a Polish citizen and have worked 183 days in another EU country then Poland has the right to tax your world wide income.
This does not exempt you from declaring income earned in Belgium or other counties.
If you are a Belgian and a UK citizen like me then it becomes more complicated.


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[BlasterBates]

Hi

I think You are not right. This 183 days rules was created directly to prevent double taxation and protect the workers and also the countries where the duties are handled. I mean it does make sense that You are able to choose where You want to pay Your taxes ( in most of the cases it is Your origin country where Your company is registered etc. ) but in the situation where You staying in other country more than this magical number this country might ask You to pay the taxes there. That is how i generally understand this.

Sue from iPaye has kindly provided a guide here. She is an expert in cross border working.

Working in Europe a brief guide

In most cases an individual on assignment will be liable to taxation on income arising in the country in which they are working from day 1. Some countries may ignore stays of a month or less. Generally, after 183 days the individual becomes tax resident in the country in which they work, as well as the country in which they live. This then means that the order in which income is taxed, and, in some cases the rate of tax withheld, is dictated by the relevant Double Taxation Treaty.

The double taxation treaty means that although you pay tax in Belgium and you also declare in Poland, the Polish authorities won't tax it again. Though sometimes if the tax rate is lower in the other country they will request the difference.

If you are always liable for tax in a country where you get income even if you never go there, eg you own US shares your US dividend will be taxed. You earn income doing business for a week in Belgium, you are liable for tax on that income.

Many contractors misinterpret the 183 day rule as you are exempt from tax until you've been in the country for 183 days; this is incorrect. The 183 day rule determines when worldwide income becomes taxable, taking into account tax paid elsewhere. An example is tax on dividends and interest. This form of income won't be taxed in a country where you are not deemed to be resident. If you are in a country more than 183 days you are not necessarily resident. They will accept that you are resident elsewhere if you return home regularly.

[choodzik]

Hi

I think You are not right. This 183 days rules was created directly to prevent double taxation and protect the workers and also the countries where the duties are handled. I mean it does make sense that You are able to choose where You want to pay Your taxes ( in most of the cases it is Your origin country where Your company is registered etc. ) but in the situation where You staying in other country more than this magical number this country might ask You to pay the taxes there. That is how i generally understand this.

[BlasterBates]

Hi Guys

Sorry for direct question but i need to give the answer till end of this week and desperately seeking Your advice since Your knowledge in this topic is much bigger than mine.

Here is my situation.
I am tax resident in Poland. Have wife and 2 kids and my center of life is in Poland. I pay taxes here and have my individual company registered here. I also run other services than ic design ( apartments rentals etc.) which i can easily proof.

From 01.10.2018 till 31.05.2019 i spent 160 days contracting in Belgium. Than i moved for 3 months to do another contract in Netherlands . I have proofs ( flight tickets etc ) for every single day spent outside Belgium.

I have new opportunity for 2 months contract again in Belgium for the same employer starting 01.09.2019 till end of October.

Assuming i will be working 20 days a month in Belgium ( again flying back to Poland every weekend and coming to Belgium on Monday morning) will i cross these 183 days rule??. How it should be calculated starting from 01.10.2019. I assume that i am save till end of September ( it will just add additional 20 days to 160 which i s less than 183) but how about October.

Is there a way to move to some umbrella company just for the October or it will not change the way how Belgian tax authorities might sum all these days.

Thanks in advance!

Actually you should tax your income for 2018 for work done in Belgium in Belgium, even if you haven't been there for 183 days. Therefore it doesn't matter how many days you spent or will spend in Belgium. The same applies to the Netherlands.

Now would be the time to straighten up your tax affairs.

Your main residency is Poland and since you return there regularly, even if you were to spend more than 183 days in Belgium, Poland would probably still be your main residency. The Belgian tax authorities will still want you to pay tax on Belgian income though.

Your main residency is the country where you declare world-wide income. i.e. you pay tax in the Netherlands on your contract there. You also pay tax in Belgium on your Belgian income. In Poland you declare all your income including from the Netherlands and Belgium and the Polish authorities credit tax paid in those other countries and probably will charge no or little additional tax.

It is complicated, but that's the law.

[choodzik]

HI
Thanks for fast answer but still 12 month rolling contract is not that clear for me.

Can you just confirm if i am ok with my calculation. Let's assume there is 15.20.2019. So to check if i have crossed 183 days i should only summarize the days spent from exactly 15.10.2018??

Once again thanks for clarification!

[northernladuk]

It's 183 days in a rolling 12 month period so shouldnt be too hard work out surely?

Some intesting points cleared up in this article.

9 myths about the 183-days-rule - TTT Group :: TTT Group

[choodzik]

Hi Guys

Sorry for direct question but i need to give the answer till end of this week and desperately seeking Your advice since Your knowledge in this topic is much bigger than mine.

Here is my situation.
I am tax resident in Poland. Have wife and 2 kids and my center of life is in Poland. I pay taxes here and have my individual company registered here. I also run other services than ic design ( apartments rentals etc.) which i can easily proof.

From 01.10.2018 till 31.05.2019 i spent 160 days contracting in Belgium. Than i moved for 3 months to do another contract in Netherlands . I have proofs ( flight tickets etc ) for every single day spent outside Belgium.

I have new opportunity for 2 months contract again in Belgium for the same employer starting 01.09.2019 till end of October.

Assuming i will be working 20 days a month in Belgium ( again flying back to Poland every weekend and coming to Belgium on Monday morning) will i cross these 183 days rule??. How it should be calculated starting from 01.10.2019. I assume that i am save till end of September ( it will just add additional 20 days to 160 which i s less than 183) but how about October.

Is there a way to move to some umbrella company just for the October or it will not change the way how Belgian tax authorities might sum all these days.

Thanks in advance!

[northernladuk]

Because I am tempted not to create a new thread. And I am asking for suggestions how do I ask about a rate in Euro / Germany which have a similarity in the conversation. I understand you are trying to be harsh / rude and most responses are TBH (and I get that, we need that) but I think such attitude is asking me not to ask any queries at all. Don’t get me wrong.

Reported for trolling.