Tax authorities confirm extended objection period applies

On 2 March 2023, the Belgian tax authorities published a new Circular Letter 2023/C/23 confirming their position on the extension of the taxpayers’ objection period as implemented by the law of 20 November 2022 containing various tax and financial provisions. 

In a nutshell, the Circular confirms the following:

• The law amended the objection period for income taxes from 6 months to 1 year (starting on the third business day following the date of dispatch of the assessment notice). This amendment entered into force on 1 January 2023. Although unexpired terms are usually automatically extended according to the general principles of law, no explicit confirmation had yet been provided in preparatory works.
• The new 1-year objection period will not only be applicable for all assessments issued after 1 January 2023, but will also apply to all assessments in which the former 6-month period has yet to expire on 1 January 2023.
• More specifically, for assessment notices dispatched as from 29 June 2022 (and where the objection period had thus not yet expired on 31 December 2022), the extension of the objection period to 1 year automatically applies.
• Please note that the extension of the objection period does not affect the tax payment period, which remains 2 months (cf. article 413 ITC). P.M.: By exception, income taxes due regarding assessment year 2022 are payable within 4 months. 

Furthermore, the law of 20 November 2022 introduced numerous other significant changes to tax audit and assessment periods. However, the administration has yet to provide further guidance on this matter. For more information, please refer to our previous update.