Growth-Enhancing Corporate Tax Reform in Belgium

Abstract Until 2018, Belgium had a unique corporate income tax system due to its notional interest deduction, also known in public finance literature as the allowance for corporate equity. At the same time, it had one of the highest corporate tax rates in Europe at 34 percent. The latter came under severe pressure to reform and, as of 2018, the government has started to reduce the rate, gradually to reach 25 percent in 2020. The reduction is accompanied by other measures, including a limitation of the notional interest deduction. This paper argues that the lower CIT rate is likely to be conduc... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Mooij, Ruud De
Hebous, Shafik
Hrdinkova, Milena
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
Reihe/Periodikum: Nordic Tax Journal ; volume 2018, issue 1, page 1-17 ; ISSN 2246-1809
Verlag/Hrsg.: Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27387069
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/ntaxj-2018-0004

Abstract Until 2018, Belgium had a unique corporate income tax system due to its notional interest deduction, also known in public finance literature as the allowance for corporate equity. At the same time, it had one of the highest corporate tax rates in Europe at 34 percent. The latter came under severe pressure to reform and, as of 2018, the government has started to reduce the rate, gradually to reach 25 percent in 2020. The reduction is accompanied by other measures, including a limitation of the notional interest deduction. This paper argues that the lower CIT rate is likely to be conducive to economic growth. Yet, the effects on growth would have been more favorable if the notional interest deduction would have been strengthened, rather than diminished.