The Belgian Tax Man Cometh

[nodric]

I received an email today from a reliable source (who prefers not to be named as he is close to the matter - that's how Bloomberg say it ) that Ntrinsic's offices were raided in the last few days by the BTA.

He or she states that, "One day last week 4 officials from the Belgian tax authority arrived very early at their offices."

Details of why are sketchy, needless to say this has been expected for some time following the collapse of Connexions et al.

I continue to dig for additional information, and to find out if other agencies are being targeted. For now, if you are working through Ntrinsic in any ‘less than transparent’ ways, you may want to plan your exit strategy.

At the very least, you should ask your agent for clarification, and give your accounant a call.

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[emanresu]

Bump.

Any more news on this?

Does anyone know if other service companies or agencies being have been questioned?

[nodric]

Bump.

Any more news on this?

Does anyone know if other service companies or agencies being have been questioned?

As you can imagine, this is not something people are queuing up to proffer information on

For now it seems to be localised at the door of Ntrinsic. I received further information this week that confirms the visit by the BTA. They took seizure of all documents in the offices, and cloned all employees hard drives. They did not disclose specifics about what they were seeking, and the company now consider that they, and those using them, are under tax fraud investigation

Take the case of Connexions. They fined them some 2million Euros (or so it was rumoured). It would not be too much of a stretch of the imagination to assume the BTA think they can get a large penalty from Ntrinsic, and have more chance of seeing it paid, than by pursuing individuals. In the end Connexions went bust, and did a Phoenix, but not before they skanked a whole heap of cash from some frightened and ill advised contractors.

Most corporate clients have insurance, backed by teams of lawyers, to challenge such actions should they be considered complicit, but you and I don't! Action against Bluechips is unlikely given the layers of contract law that gets spread between the Contractor and the end client.

However, if individuals have been under declaring for years, have bought a house, and have other assets in Belgium, be assured they will be a person of some interest. The law was changed in Belgium in 2008/9, and this change allows the BTA to go back 7 years when assessing unpaid dues. Of course proving you have been doing naughties [sic] is another matter

Two weeks ago an accountant was arrested and held by the Police for 10 hours without being able to consult a lawyer, or have any outside contact. He was denied any refreshment, and was subjected to a sustained ‘good cop bad cop’ routine. The Police were investigating a tax fraud case, and believed the accountant was withholding information about this case. He wasn’t, and was eventually released, but you can assume he was more than happy to ‘spill his guts’ on all he knew of the client.

I know this happened, as I know the people involved!

The Police in Belgium are able to hold you for questioning without any representation for as long as they deem necessary. OK There are some limits, but there is no PACE act here! Only after they are done with you, can you seek legal representation, or call your wife/partner/significant other. By this time they hope to have extracted a confession and supporting evidence from you. If you refuse to cooperate, they whisk you off to court, and into a remand prison while they continue to investigate.

It is important to note here, that this only occurs if they are investigating a criminal matter, e.g. Serious Tax Fraud. No need for you all to loose your bowels just yet!

The man on the Clapham omnibus when presented with this dilemma, would probably suggest a good exit strategy for anyone who may have been doing some creative accounting over the years, and who have recently been contracting through Ntrinsic.

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