The Court of Justice ruled that the delivery of converted old buildings can be subject to VAT if the conversion created added value. This follows directly from the VAT Directive and must be applied regardless of whether the national VAT code contains related provisions. Read the full alert in Dutch or French.
Key contacts
Danny Stas
Danny is head of the tax advisory practice. He is a tax lawyer specialised in VAT, in particular with respect to real estate and financial transactions, as well as eco taxes and contributions. As partner in the firm, Danny focuses on VAT consulting for Belgian clients in the private and public sectors and the broad corporate market at national and international level. In the real estate industry, Danny focuses on VAT consulting for clients in the private (e.g. real estate developers, REITs, hospitals, senior housing, etc.) and public sectors and the broad corporate market at national and international level. Besides the specific VAT topics (e.g. reduced VAT rates, VAT exemptions), he has also good knowledge of alternative financing of real estate and transfer duties. Danny is a recommended lawyer in the Chambers Europe and Legal 500 directories.
Joaquim Heirman
Joaquim is a Director at Deloitte Legal, specialising in all VAT matters. He has over 10 years of experience in advisory services including guiding companies through administrative and court procedures. The majority of his clients are privately held companies and include real estate developers, law firms, health care suppliers and governmental institutions. Since 2009 he is a member of the Brussels bar. He published regularly on VAT matters and lectures at the KULeuven (University Leuven) on VAT aspects of real estate and is research assistant at the UGent (University of Ghent).
