A US-based non-profit chamber of commerce sought annulment of Articles 35 and 36 of Belgium's December 2023 law implementing the OECD Pillar Two global minimum tax. The applicants argued the provisions breached constitutional equality and property rights and conflicted with EU law. Belgium's Constitutional Court dismissed the action in July 2025, upholding the validity of the minimum tax rules and rejecting the request for an EU preliminary ruling ... Read more

A Belgian company financed a €16 million share acquisition partly via a 5% fixed-rate loan from its British parent. The tax authority applied the internal CUP method, using a concurrent ING bank loan as a comparable, and adjusted the arm's length rate to 3.32%. The Court of First Instance upheld the assessment in 2025, rejecting the taxpayer's external CUP study and confirming a 10% penalty for incorrect filing ... Read more

A Belgian company financed a €16 million share acquisition partly via a 5% fixed-rate loan from its British parent. The tax authority applied the internal CUP method, using a concurrent ING bank loan as a comparable, and adjusted the arm's length rate to 3.32%. The Court of First Instance upheld the assessment in 2025, rejecting the taxpayer's external CUP study and confirming a 10% penalty for incorrect filing ... Read more

A Belgian subsidiary borrowed 800 million euros from a Luxembourg group entity at 7.22% interest in 2011. The tax authorities challenged the rate as exceeding arm's length, alleged abnormal advantages via UK conduit structures, and invoked anti-abuse provisions. The Court of First Instance ruled predominantly in favour of the taxpayer in June 2025, accepting the arm's length interest rate and rejecting temporal application of anti-abuse rules ... Read more

A Belgian company claimed dividend and capital gains exemptions through intra-group restructuring involving holding structures, mergers, and rapid capital flows. The Belgian tax authorities challenged these exemptions as abusive. The Supreme Court upheld the authorities' position in 2023, confirming that EU anti-abuse principles apply even without domestic provisions in force, and that transactions lacking genuine economic substance cannot benefit from the Parent-Subsidiary Directive ... Read more

A Belgian company paid interest on five loans to its Dutch subsidiary, claiming withholding tax exemption under the Belgium-Netherlands tax treaty. The tax authority challenged whether the Dutch subsidiary qualified as the beneficial owner. The Court of First Instance found in favour of the tax authority in 2023, concluding the subsidiary acted as a conduit in back-to-back arrangements, disqualifying it from treaty benefits ... Read more

A Belgian company had set interest rates on a loan to its Swiss group affiliate using the S&P credit rating method, applying a one-notch correction as a moderately strategic entity. The tax authority argued the company was a core entity deserving the group rating. The Court of First Instance in 2023 found multiple methodological errors but classified the company as highly strategic, warranting only a one-notch reduction from the group rating, ruling mostly for the tax authority ... Read more

A Belgian company received transferred receivables at nominal value exceeding market value from related Dutch entities. The tax authority applied Article 207(2) ITC92 to disallow offsetting the resulting abnormal benefits against losses. The Court of Appeal and subsequently the Belgian Supreme Court in 2022 both upheld the tax authority's position, confirming that the deduction prohibition applies regardless of the benefit provider's tax residence ... Read more

A Dutch parent company contributed an intra-group loan claim to its Belgian subsidiary, triggering a dispute over whether Article 207 of the Belgian Income Tax Code applied to abnormal or gratuitous advantages obtained from foreign entities. The Belgian Constitutional Court, in December 2021, ruled on the constitutional validity of this interpretation, examining compatibility with freedom of establishment and constitutional equality provisions ... Read more

A Belgian entity performed all key DEMPE functions for the Uniclic technology without remuneration, while royalty income flowed to a related Irish-registered entity. The tax authority sought to add foregone royalties to the taxpayer's taxable base, alleging a simulated transfer of invention rights. The Court of Appeal ruled mostly in favour of the taxpayer, finding the administration had not sufficiently demonstrated tax evasion or a simulated transaction ... Read more

ENGIE CC granted an intra-group loan to Electrabel Nederland Holding bv, which was prematurely repaid in 2005 with a reinvestment fee. Belgian tax authorities found an incorrect interest rate had inflated the fee by over EUR 2.7 million and assessed the excess as an abnormal or gratuitous advantage. ENGIE's repayment of the excess did not remedy the tax position. Belgium's Supreme Court dismissed the appeal in January 2021, confirming the assessment ... Read more

Alcopa N.V., the first European Hyundai distributor, contested the Belgian tax authority's reclassification of reimbursements from Hyundai Motor Company as abnormal or gratuitous benefits, which triggered denial of the DBI deduction under Section 207 ITC92. The Antwerp courts upheld the assessments for FY 2002 and 2003, finding no conflict with the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive. The Belgian Supreme Court dismissed Alcopa's further appeal in September 2020 ... Read more

A Belgian subsidiary of Finnish Fortum OYI received and on-lent EUR 3 billion to a Swedish affiliate to fund a Russian acquisition. The Belgian tax authority denied the risk capital deduction, claiming the interest income constituted an abnormal and gratuitous advantage obtained solely for tax purposes. Belgium's Supreme Court ruled in favour of the taxpayer in May 2019, rejecting the authority's application of the abnormal advantage doctrine ... Read more

A Belgian company received an interest-free loan of EUR 1,000,000 from an associated company. The tax authority treated the forgone interest as an abnormal advantage under Article 207 CIR, reinstating EUR 50,000 annually for 2006–2008 regardless of losses. Belgium's Supreme Court confirmed in 2016 that abnormal benefits from related parties cannot be eliminated by period losses, and remanded the case for re-examination ... Read more

Two taxpayers challenged whether Belgium's arm's length provision under Article 344 of the 1992 Income Tax Code violated Article 170 of the Constitution, which requires taxes to be introduced by law. The Antwerp Court of First Instance in 2004 found the provision lawful, ruling that the legislature had set strict conditions for its application to combat tax avoidance without granting unconstitutional discretion to the executive ... Read more

A Belgian company transferred its commercial activity to a new entity and charged high interest on a related loan, minimising taxable profits. The tax authority disallowed reduced taxation, arguing the transactions were purely tax-driven. The Belgian Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal in 1961, establishing that using freedom of contract to achieve a favourable tax regime is not prohibited simulation or fraud, provided no legal obligation is violated ... Read more