The Belgian De Wever government is allocating €133 million annually to restore IT companies’ access to the favourable copyright regime when they deliver work for internal use or for a single client. Finance Minister Jan Jambon will provide clarification to parliament tomorrow, Wednesday. This means that MR chairman Georges-Louis Bouchez has finally got his way.
The preferential tax regime for copyright was originally intended for writers and artists, but over the years it also became established in the business world because it was so advantageous. Up to €77,220, copyright royalties are treated as income from movable property, on which a withholding tax of 15 per cent is payable. Furthermore, up to €20,590, a flat-rate exemption of 50 per cent applied, meaning the actual tax burden on that amount was only 7.5 per cent.
Walloon companies and start-ups in particular made use of this favourable regime, which was originally established by MR finance minister Didier Reynders. The leading Walloon company Odoo, in particular, took advantage of it. In Flanders, this was much less common. Companies such as Proximus, Telenet and Cegeka never made use of it there.
