Belgian businesses set to pay less tax

The Flemish, Walloon and federal governments have agreed on new measures aimed at cutting the tax burden on companies to improve the country’s competitiveness. The main measure involves spending €125 million annually for seven years to cut the cost of running a business.

Ministers representing Flanders, Wallonia and the federal government met in Brussels yesterday to agree on a common strategy to make the country more competitive. Belgium is required to cut its high labour costs under the EU’s Pact for Competitiveness, the intention of which is to harmonise wage costs across the Eurozone. The Belgian governments are now involved in this process due to recent constitutional reforms that come into force next year.  

The Flemish government also wants to boost competitivity by devoting 3% of gross domestic product to research and development, compared to 2.4% in 2011 and just 1.96% in 2006.

In addition, Flanders will spend more on workforce training programmes, especially those involving people under 30 and older workers over 55.