Taxes in Belgium - accountant needed!

[woody86]

Hi everyone and thank you in advance for your help,

I accepted an offer for a 6 months internship in the Brussels office of an American Law Firm but would like to keep paying taxes in Italy (I am Italian, I currently work as a Lawyer in Italy and my tax residency in Italy) since I am going to work in Belgium for less than 183 days in the fiscal year and taxes are substantially lower in Italy. My idea is to keep my residency in Italy while I work in Belgium and, being careful not to spend more than the 183 days there, pay taxes in Italy. Does anyone know whether this would be possible? In particular, do you know whether Belgian employers (a law firm in this case) withold taxes?

Any thoughts would be of help!

[northernladuk]

Nothing in the sticky about Belgium taxes help at all?

http://forums.contractoruk.com/accou...-security.html

[jamesbrown]

I don't know the specifics for Belgium, but you'll generally be taxed at source on all income originating from that country. You'll then report worldwide income on the tax return in your state of residence, crediting any taxes already paid (if applicable). Unfortunately, you can't credit more than the tax owed, so you'll pay the higher (Belgian) rates on your income from Belgium, but you won't pay those rates on income sourced from outside Belgium. You may also find that Belgium applies special income tax rates to non-residents, so you may not pay exactly the same as a Belgian resident on your Belgium source income.

[jamesbrown]

Oh, and like you suggested, solicit the advice of a professional International tax is hard.

[BlasterBates]

It's actually quiet complicated, you won't necessarily have a top up tax if you are taxed on income in another European country. For example Belgians working in Luxembourg but living in Belgium, i.e. crossing the border on a daily basis don't pay a top-up tax on their Lux. income, even though their main residence is Belgium. That applies also to other income.You will need a Belgian accountant to sort it out though.