Friday was the deadline for most people to file their tax returns for the previous year. Only independent professionals and people with an income from abroad get till 16 October. The tax authorities counted 2.3 million tax returns that had been filed electronically online in addition to the 4 million pre-filled in returns proposed by the tax department. In the last few hours, tens of thousands more people hit the button and dispatched their electronic tax returns.
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Deadline for tax returns has expired. What if you didn’t file on time?
Colin Clapson
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The original deadline was 15 July but was extended by 4 days due to technical difficulties accessing the platform.
Last night, the deadline passed to file your tax return online. That's 4 days later than originally planned, as electronic returns were originally due by July 15.
2,305,738 electronic tax returns were filed through MyMinFin, the government's online tax platform. The figure is virtually the same as last year.
The Belgian tax authorities need to receive some 7.4 million tax returns. Most taxpayers, about 4 million, make use of the already filled-in tax return proposed by the finance department. In addition to that 4 million, a further 2.3 million taxpayers filed their returns electronically.
Paper returns are "negligible"!
An as yet unknown number of tax returns were filed on paper. Those were due by 30 June but have not yet been counted. The tax authorities expect some 200,000 returns were filed on paper this year. A figure described as "negligible" by officials.
Some 1.4 million returns from independent professionals and people with income from abroad are expected by 16 October. The later deadline no longer applies to taxpayers who seek the support of an accountant.
What if you haven't filed your tax return on time?
People who file a late tax return are treated in the same way as people who don’t file a return.
Administrative penalties range from 50 euros to 1,250 euros. That amount increases depending on how many times you have filed late before.
The tax authorities may also decide to impose a tax increase of 10 to 200 percent instead of or on top of a fine.
The finance ministry gets more time to check your return. That could be as much as a year and a half longer.
Moreover, the burden of proof is reversed and the onus is now on the taxpayer and not on the authorities to provide proof.