## Belgium: Selected Issues

_IMF Staff Country Reports, March 17, 2017_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Belgium: Selected Issues](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2017/03/17/belgium-selected-issues-44749)

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- [Markdown version](/en/publications/cr/issues/2017/03/17/belgium-selected-issues-44749/index.md)
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## Bibliographic details
- Published: March 17, 2017
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781475587692.002

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### Summary
- This Selected Issues paper explores key features of Belgium’s corporate income tax (CIT) regime as background for potential growth-enhancing reform options that also safeguard revenues and limit distortions.
- Comprehensive reform of business and investment income taxation in Belgium is both promising and challenging.
- The challenge arises from the need for fiscal consolidation and the limited scope for shifting the tax burden away from the CIT to other taxes.
- Overall, there appears to be scope for a broader reform that could raise Belgium’s growth potential without undermining fiscal revenues.

### Key findings
- The absence of capital gains taxation undermines tax neutrality between different forms of businesses, leading to organizational inefficiencies and a misallocation of capital.
- Belgium’s CIT regime has features that warrant examination as part of a comprehensive reform aimed at enhancing growth while safeguarding revenues.
- Reform design must account for the constraints imposed by fiscal consolidation needs and the limited ability to shift tax burdens to other tax bases.

### Policy implications and reform priorities
- Consider comprehensive reform of business and investment income taxation to raise growth potential without undermining fiscal revenues.
- Address the absence of capital gains taxation to improve tax neutrality across business forms and reduce organizational inefficiencies and capital misallocation.
- Design reforms mindful of the need for fiscal consolidation and the limited scope for shifting tax burdens away from the CIT to other taxes, ensuring revenue protection and limiting distortions.

*International Monetary Fund. European Dept. "Belgium: Selected Issues", IMF Staff Country Reports 2017, 070 (2017), accessed 9/21/2026, https://doi.org/10.5089/9781475587692.002*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2017/03/17/belgium-selected-issues-44749_