Context

Referring to the headline of 17 January 2003(*), you will recall that the Court of Cassation on 16 January 2003 overturned the decision of the Brussels Court of Appeal of 2 May 2001 which stated that pre-1999 options not qualifying under the Act of December 1984 are taxable at exercise and that the gain realised when exercising such options constitutes taxable compensation. The Court of Cassation found that it could not be implied from the Act of 1984 that the gain realised when exercising pre-1999 options not qualifying under said Act, constitutes taxable remuneration.

News

Based on the same arguments, in the decision of 7 November 2003, the Court of Cassation overturned the decision of the Brussels Court of Appeal of 7 June 2002. It should be noted that the arguments developed in both decisions of the Court of Appeal were similar. Hence, it would have been surprising if, on 7 November 2003, the Court of Cassation had departed from its previous decision.

For the time being, everybody is impatiently awaiting the decision of the Court of Cassation on the Antwerp Court of Appeal decision of 19 February 2002 in which it was decided that the taxable moment was the exercise, based on arguments other than those invoked by the Brussels Court of Appeal.

(*) http://news.hrservices.be?200301171610