Dear readers,
It is not the first time that the Dutch tax authorities have doubts about my residential address in Belgium. A long time ago I made a distinction in my correspondence between correspondence address and residential address, since I stay in Thailand for most of the year and this way I have better control over the mail addressed to me by the Dutch tax authorities. But the Inspectorate of the Netherlands Tax and Customs Administration Abroad Department in Heerlen has started a further investigation into what actually is my 'actual residential address' and is not satisfied with proof that I am registered in Belgium.
I have now sent this service my tax assessments of the last 5 years for the benefit of the Belgian tax authorities, as well as copies of my identity card, certificate of registration from the Population Service of the municipality of Ghent and also the correspondence regarding my pensions sent to my address in Ghent.
I have permission from the removals department of the municipality of Ghent to stay in Thailand for more than 1 year. But the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration doubts whether this address, officially designated by Belgian authorities as my home address, is my 'actual home address, which is unjustified in my opinion, since officials must base their decisions on official statements and not on suspicions that I' in fact' live elsewhere.
Are there other Dutch citizens experiencing similar difficulties with the Dutch tax authorities?
Regards,
Niek
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That address in Belgium doesn't exactly seem like your 'actual home address'. I assume that a Belgian municipality has given you permission to stay abroad for more than a year on the basis of specific Belgian legislation. The Dutch authorities are not bound by this.
Niek, being registered in Ghent does not automatically mean that that is also your tax residence. If I read your question correctly, I think that the service in Heerlen may find that you do not live in Ghent but in Thailand….. Because that is where you spend most of the year, you say yourself, and you are allowed to Ghent even stay there for a year.
What is your tax residence?
I advise you to engage a tax advisor with knowledge of the tax treaties NL-BE, BE-TH and NL-TH.
And you may benefit from the advice of Lammert de Haan in this blog. https://www.thailandblog.nl/expats-en-pensionado/van-welk-land-ben-jij-fiscaal-inwoner/ even if it concerns the NL-TH treaty.
Eric, my tax residence is Ghent and I have also sent my tax assessments over a number of years to 'Heerlen' as proof.
Erik, Niek is Dutch and enjoys Dutch income.
If you live in Belgium, Belgium may, in principle, levy taxes on your AOW benefit and occupational pension and/or annuity payment.
When living in Thailand, not the BE-TH Treaty but only the NL-TH Treaty comes into play. In that case, his AOW benefit will be taxed in both the Netherlands and Thailand. Thailand must then grant a reduction under Article 23(6) of the Treaty.
Although the article you quoted is based on the Netherlands – Thailand situation, the provisions therein regarding the determination of the tax residence apply to all tax treaties concluded by the Netherlands. Eea is based on the OECD model treaty.
Lambert, I agree. The question remains why Heerlen is stimulating the debate on where to live. But maybe we'll hear that from Niek again.
Residence investigations are carried out regularly in the event that the inspector is in doubt.
A few months ago, the Supreme Court ruled in a case in which a self-proclaimed “tax advisor” pretended to live in Thailand.
The inspector had discovered that all the declarations and consultancy work he handled were done with a Dutch IP address, so that was the end of it.
He thought he had arranged everything cleverly. To this end, he had even sold his home in the Netherlands to his 2-year-old son, who was therefore incapable of acting, and who lived in Thailand (come to that thought).
All this was to no avail for him. And, despite the fraud committed on a large scale, the Court of The Hague found no grounds to impose an offense fine on him. The Supreme Court followed this view of the Court.
However, I know of countless cases involving a less far-reaching form of fraud. a fine has been imposed.
Because suspicion was aroused at the Dutch tax authorities because I had their mail sent to my 'correspondence address' in Thailand and not to my 'home address' in Ghent.
Niek, because of the not too reliable mail delivery in Thailand, I did exactly the opposite 20 years ago: all paper mail from tax and SVB to my brother in NL. Incidentally, there has been mijnoverheid.nl and similar sites for years now where you can log in with DigiD and read or print everything.
A Dutchman who officially lives in Belgium but lives in Thailand for most of the year naturally raises questions.
As a tax authority, I would like to know whether you have perhaps set up a construction to evade Dutch taxes, which seems likely to me that you do not pay tax in the Netherlands.
I don't understand tax laws, but if I were a tax official, I would tax your income in the Netherlands, because you don't actually live in Belgium, because you live in Thailand most of the year.
Maybe even (almost) all year round.
And you probably don't pay tax in Thailand, even though you should if you live there most of the year.
I have already noted that I have been paying taxes in Belgium for years, so there is no question of a 'rigging construction' at all.
Dear Nick,
It is really not surprising that Heerlen has doubts about your actual place of residence.
As a file manager I am 'reasonable; aware of the relevant legislation.
You do not indicate where your income comes from: Belgium or the Netherlands??? This fact makes a big difference.
You can get permission in Belgium to stay outside Belgium for more than 1 year. but this is a one-off and can only be obtained under certain conditions, which you probably do NOT qualify for: studying or having a job abroad. So, if you stay outside Belgium for more than 1 year and do not meet these conditions, you are bound by the legal deregistration obligation and you will again fall under the Dutch tax system if your income originates from the Netherlands. If it comes from Belgium, you remain a Belgian taxpayer and you are already taxed at source with an annual declaration and settlement.
You may now argue high and low that this is not a construction, in your opinion, but in fact it is. I do not know the Dutch tax rates and will not go into them, but assume that they are more disadvantageous for you in the Netherlands than in Belgium, hence all the effort to keep an address in Belgium, without staying there, a postal address in the Netherlands……..
There is a good chance that one day it will end badly.
Lung Addie, my income comes from the Netherlands and the tax assessments on my income in the Netherlands and Belgium hardly differ from each other. This has been proven by the fact that I also had to complete the 2016-2020 returns that I had completed for Belgium for the Netherlands, so that was never a reason why I wanted to be a tax resident in Belgium.
The point at issue is whether the Dutch tax authorities may deny that, according to the Belgian authorities, you have a residential address in Belgium, while you are also a tax resident, if it is known that you have resided outside Belgium for more than 180 days... As long as I have not been officially removed from the population register, I continue to reside in Belgium according to the Belgian legislator;
And in order not to be deported officially, I have official permission to stay in Thailand for 1 year longer without having to give any reason for it.
the year that you can stay outside Belgium (your city) can be extended in your city by 1 more year.
It is not that the reasons for this are only : studying or having a job .
I think there are two things being confused with each other0.
In your municipality you can request to stay outside the municipality for 1 year so that you can not be deregistered , can be extended by 1 year .
Permission to stay outside Belgium is something completely different
Dear Ruudje,
if you say A you must also say B. I would like to hear from you what other reasons are provided by the legislator that could lead to the suspension of the deregistration obligation. I have only found the two reasons in the texts that I indicated in my response. If possible, also a reference to its source as this may be useful for my 'Deregistering for Belgians' file.
I may not be Belgian - although I enjoyed living and working there for 4 years - but found the following on the website of the City of Ghent:
https://stad.gent/nl/burgerzaken/migratie/reizen-en-vertrek-uit-belgie/vertrek-uit-belgie
Facts are: moved to Belgium 5 years ago, deregistered from the Netherlands.
Paid tax in Belgium for 5 years.
Pensions above a certain amount are taxed in the Netherlands, I was able to read quite recently.
Also assume that life certificate comes from Belgium, so again a fact.
How does the tax authorities obtain facts about the stay in Thailand and why?
Isn't the bd going out of her way? The facts are supported by Belgian documents and have been for 5 years. From a tax point of view it seems correct to me.
The Dutch BD has nothing to do with your life in Belgium. That's your package.
They have to stick to the facts and otherwise prove THEMSELVES that it wouldn't be right.
The Dutch authorities are really not human, perhaps this does not happen humanly and an AI (or algorithms) is active and then an inspector (or maybe not) continues, assuming that the algorithm is right.
Should receive an advance payment of, well 2 euros, up to 49 times.
Which I got back again and more. Yes, it had to be paid, because otherwise … you know it.
The first time I called them about this. Strange that the 2nd time it was also 49 euros again.
“We are the Dutch bd, we will assimilate you, resistance is futile. ”
We are now familiar with the parent surcharge scam.
Hi Nick,
Without looking into my crystal ball, I foresee big problems for you.
The inspector has started a residence investigation into you. This means that he has reasons to doubt the correctness of his (tax) residence in Ghent, as you suggest.
You already indicate that you live or stay in Thailand for most of the year. By doing so, you indicate that you are not a tax resident of Belgium. As usual, the Treaty for the avoidance of double taxation concluded between the Netherlands and Belgium is also based on the 183 regulation.
Pursuant to Article 4 of the General State Tax Act, where a person lives is “judged according to the circumstances”.
What circumstances should you consider? I'll name a few:
1. Where do you have a sustainable home available?
2. With which country are your personal and economic relations closest (center of vital interests)?
3. Where do you usually stay?
If it has not yet happened, I expect that the inspector will also request the bank statements from your bank(s) as well as a copy of the pages of your passport. This is particularly important in order to obtain an answer to questions 2 and 3.
This is the normal course of the inspector in matters of this kind.
The inspector will then quickly come to the conclusion that you are not a tax resident of Belgium. The fact that you paid tax in Belgium does not affect this. Although tax residency in Belgium is assumed in principle (ECLI:NL:HR:2006:AR5759), this principle deviates if the inspector can demonstrate that:
• the assessment of the Belgian tax authorities is based on incorrect or incomplete data or
• the levy cannot reasonably be based on any rule of Belgian law.
And it seems to be heading in that direction.
What are the consequences of this?
• You do not enjoy treaty protection on the basis of the Treaty concluded by the Netherlands with Belgium, but at most on the basis of the Netherlands – Thailand Treaty (if the inspector wants to go that far immediately).
• In contrast to the situation when living in Belgium, the Netherlands levies tax on your AOW benefit. To this end, you can expect additional assessment of a maximum of 5 years.
• You will still have to take the necessary actions to reclaim the tax already paid in Belgium. However, the investigation by the inspector and the outcome of his findings can be helpful to you (the Tax Authorities are your best friend after all).
The permission of the removals department of the municipality of Ghent to stay in Thailand for more than 1 year is null and void in this context (Treaty-technical).
Lammert de Haan, tax specialist (specialized in international tax law and social insurance).
Moderator: Questions should be submitted as reader questions.
Dear Nick,
please read carefully both responses from Mr Lammert de Haan.
He is much better placed than I am regarding Dutch tax law, but his decision essentially boils down to what I tried to explain to you in short terms. He goes into detail and the big mistake you made is that your main residence is not in Belgium but in Thailand and that can be proven very easily. From the moment your state of residence is requested on the basis of your passport, you will have a big problem. There is even a possibility that you will now pay taxes twice as the Dutch tax authorities can return for 5 years and what you have already paid in Belgium: the objection period has already expired, so it will be difficult for you to reclaim anything. In Belgium, I have sufficient knowledge and experience with that. I wish you the best of luck with the administration.
Dear Lung Addie,
Based on the findings and conclusions of the Dutch inspector, Niek can submit a request to the Belgian tax authorities for an OFFICIAL reduction/revision of the already imposed and final assessments. That is the option that remains after the objection period has expired.
Dear Lambert,
thanks for the helpful info. Much will depend, if it comes to that, on the findings and final report of the Tax Inspector. Is it considered fraud… ignorance is an argument that is little accepted as everyone is supposed to know the law, which of course is not the case.
I know from experience that a revision is not readily available after the objection period has expired. I've had a lot of trouble getting a review for that person, with very severe Alzheimer's, for whom an emergency appeal for administrative help has appeared here on TB and whose file I successfully handled with the Belgian tax authorities. Even with medical certificates that he was incompetent to file his report, it was no piece of cake. Let alone if they suspect any fraud…..
Lung addie, I would like to contact you further regarding this matter; If you agree, this is my address [email protected]