(a) DIVIDENDS
By virtue of its impersonal character, the tax on income from personal property is imposed on dividends at the source, as and when they are received in Belgium and irrespective of the status or nationality of the person presenting the coupons and whether the latter are of Belgian or foreign origin.
Thus in the case of dividends paid by Belgian share companies, tax at 22 per cent1 is deducted at the source by the body which owes the income, and the beneficiary, whether Belgian or foreign, an individual or a legal entity, and whether domiciled in the country or not, receives the income net.
noteAs regards dividends paid by foreign share companies, whether their head office is in Belgium or not, tax at the reduced rate is withheld at the source by the body paying these dividends in Belgium, unless it is shown that the tax has already been deducted in Belgium by a previous intermediary (Article 23 of co-ordinated laws).
If this dividend is received directly abroad by an individual, company or partnership with a fiscal domicile in Belgium, the amount must be included in the tax declaration which the beneficiary has to make annually to the competent Controller of Taxes. In this case, tax at 6 per cent is levied in accordance with an assessment list and is collected direct from the beneficiary in Belgium (Article 20, paragraph 1, item 4, and Article 50, paragraph 2, of co-ordinated laws).