On March 23rd, 2023, the Belgian legislator adopted a draft law amending the Belgian VAT Code with regard to the introduction of certain information obligations applicable to Payment Service Providers (PSPs), transposing Directive 2020/284 into Belgian law.
Under the new law, PSPs will be required to report specific information to the Belgian tax administration on cross-border payments and their beneficiaries that meet certain criteria on a quarterly basis.
PSPs must report payments that are cross-border (i.e. made to a beneficiary located in another Member State or a third country) and if the number of payments made to the same beneficiary is 25 or more in the same quarter. The PSPs of the payer will not be required to report payments where at least one of the payee’s PSPs is located in a Member State. However, exempted payments will still be included in the calculation of the 25 payments threshold.
Information to be provided in the context of the reporting will include among others the name or business name of the beneficiary, IBAN number, BIC code, the amount of the payment, the time of the payment and more.
These new obligations will apply as from January 1st, 2024.
It is important for PSPs to ensure compliance with these new requirements. Failure to comply therewith may result in administrative fines. PSPs operating in Belgium should ensure that their internal reporting processes are ready by the entry into force of the obligation.
For any questions or assistance, please reach out to our Digital Finance team: digitalfinance@simontbraun.eu [1] – +32 (0)2 543 70 80
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This newsletter is not a legal advice or a legal opinion. You should seek advice from a legal counsel of your choice before acting upon any of the information in this newsletter.