The Belgian tax authorities have recently issued a new practice note (*) on the concept of “fixed place of business” for determining the taxable benefit in kind of the private use of a company-provided car. As you know, the taxable benefit in kind is calculated depending on the distance from the place of residence to the fixed place of business.

With respect to the latter, the Minister of Finance states that “a fixed place of business” needs to be determined based on the factual and legal circumstances in each individual case (e.g. position of the employee or company director, frequency and regularity of the commuting, etc.). The fact that one person is not working in the same place during several consecutive days, does not mean that this place cannot be considered as a fixed place of business.

The Minister has now specifically stated that the place where the employee or company director was present during 40 days or more in the course of the taxable period must be considered as the fixed place of employment. Those 40 days do not have to be consecutive.

Based on the above it can be concluded that it is possible that more than one place qualifies as a fixed place of business. Therefore, based on this new guideline, determining the taxable benefit in kind may in practice become more complex. The legal basis for this new 40-day test can however be questioned.

(*) the practice note:
FR: http://news.hrservices.be?lk200801171
NL: http://news.hrservices.be?lk200801172