The Belgian tax authorities will send a notice of amendment of tax return (detailing the suggested amendments to the filed tax return and the underlying justification). The deadline for responding to such notice is one month starting on the third working day following the date of the notice of amendment (unless the notice is sent electronically, in which case the deadline starts on the day of receipt of notice).
If the authorities (wholly or partly) disagree with the position of the taxpayer elaborated in the response, they will send a notification of decision to tax and a tax assessment. A tax complaint then can be filed against such tax assessment within six months starting on the third working day following the date of the tax assessment.
- Compulsory procedure at an administrative level - administrative procedure has to be exhausted prior to the recourse to a judicial proceeding.
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Judicial proceeding - deadline: within three months of the notification of the decision rendered in the administrative procedure, possibility to go to the tax court if the tax authorities have not taken a decision within six months of the receipt of the administrative appeal or (nine months in case of an administrative appeal against an ex officio tax assessment).
Five-seven years (depending on whether an appeal before a Court of Appeal or Supreme Court is launched). If the taxpayer appeals through every level in the hierarchy of the courts, the process can take seven-10 years. However, most disputes are dealt within two-five years.
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Start: A case can in principle be presented and accepted for MAP while domestic remedies are still available
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Conduct of the proceedings: National proceedings should in principle be stayed until the end of MAP.
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Completion of proceedings: If a mutual agreement has been reached, the taxpayer may reject the agreement and pursue domestic remedies or accept the agreement and renounce the exercise of domestic legal remedies regarding the issues covered by the agreement.
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Other actions: If the competent authorities cannot reach an agreement in the framework of a MAP within two years from the date on which they were provided with all information necessary to make a decision, some double tax treaties contain a provision allowing a taxpayer to request arbitration of unresolved issues. Belgium has also implemented the EU Directive 2017/1852 on Tax Dispute Resolution that allows for the set-up of an Advisory Commission.