General information - types of securities, deadlines, other market specifics - Belgium (Securities held in CBF)
Types of securities
The eligible securities issued in Belgium are as follows:
Debt securities:
- Debt securities integrated into the X/N system of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB);
- Belgian debt securities deposited with Euroclear Belgium;
- Foreign debt securities.
Note: A holding restriction applies to NBB-eligible debt securities (see below).
Equities:
- Belgian equities deposited with Euroclear Belgium;
- Foreign equities.
Types of beneficial owner
The types of eligible beneficial owner recognised for tax purposes in Belgium vary according to security type, as follows:
For debt securities integrated into the X/N system of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB):
- Tax payers subject to Belgian corporation tax;
- Institutions, associations or corporations pertaining to the supervision of insurance companies;
- Semi-public institutions for social security and similar institutions;
- Investors not resident in Belgium;
- Certain unit trusts;
- Non-resident corporations that do business in Belgium and have allocated the income generating capital to their business activities in Belgium (for example, foreign branches operating in Belgium);
- The Belgian State;
- Undertakings for collective investment established under foreign laws, whose assets are held on a joint basis and whose units are neither offered for public subscription nor traded in Belgium;
- Resident companies whose activities consist exclusively or primarily in the granting of credit and loans;
- The Belgian Regions and Communities.
These categories represent the interpretation of the statutory descriptions of exempt entities listed in the One-Time Certificate for Belgian Debt Securities integrated into the X/N System of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB). LuxCSD takes no responsibility in the event of any different interpretation or extension of Article 4 of the Royal Decree of 26 May 1994 to other categories of investors.
Note: A holding restriction applies to NBB-eligible debt securities (see below).
For Belgian debt securities deposited with Euroclear Belgium:
- Residents of Double Taxation Treaty (DTT) countries;
- Supranational or international organisations.
For equities:
- Residents of Double Taxation Treaty (DTT) countries;
- Supranational or international organisations;
- Non-resident pension funds;
- Foreign companies holding a "qualifying" participation.
Holding restriction for NBB-eligible debt securities
LuxCSD operates an X account (exempt account) in the NBB’s X/N system. From a fiscal point of view, all customers that hold NBB-eligible securities through LuxCSD must do so exclusively on behalf of beneficial owners (including themselves, if applicable) that qualify for exemption from Belgian withholding tax as indicated above.
Important notes:
- For an eligible beneficial owner (which may include the customer, if applicable) to obtain entitlement to hold NBB-eligible debt securities in LuxCSD’s X account, the customer must submit, before the first trade, a One-Time Certificate for Belgian Debt Securities integrated into the X/N System of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) certifying that the securities are exclusively owned by such exempt beneficial owner.
- Beneficial owners that are Belgian residents are responsible, through their annual declaration, to comply with all legal and regulatory requirements imposed by Belgian law in respect of withholding tax.
- Furthermore, customers that are residents of Belgium must complete the “Identification Certificate X/N Securities Settlement System (movable assets) Exempt Account” (available on the NBB website) and provide it to the Belgian Tax Authorities upon request. LuxCSD does not need to receive a copy of this certificate.
- Customers and/or beneficial owners are responsible for ensuring compliance with these obligations. LuxCSD has no direct liability towards the Belgian Tax Authorities in this respect.
Deadlines for relief/reclaim of withholding tax
Relief at source
The deadline for receiving documentation varies from two to five business days before the first income payment, by 10:00 CET, depending on the type of document.
Quick refund
Documentation must be received by LuxCSD at the latest three business days after the income payment date, by 10:00 CET.
Standard refund
The statutory deadline for reclaiming withholding tax is five years as of 1 January of the year in which the tax withheld was remitted to the Belgian Treasury. Example: For a payment on 15 March 2022, the deadline would be 31 December 2026.
The deadline by which LuxCSD must receive the documentation for an application is, at the latest, two months before the relevant statutory deadline.
All refund applications received after this deadline will be processed by LuxCSD on a “best efforts” basis but, in such cases, LuxCSD will apply an extra charge. LuxCSD accepts no responsibility for forms that have not reached the Belgian Tax Authorities by the date considered as being the statute of limitations deadline.
When are refunds received?
Quick refund
The estimated time for receiving a quick refund of withholding tax on Belgian securities is one month from the date that LuxCSD receives the certified documents.
However, it should be noted that LuxCSD cannot give any guarantees about the quick refund procedure as it is based on market practice and all applications will depend on the goodwill of the paying agent and/or the issuer. Although LuxCSD will assist its customers with quick refund applications, it can only remit to customers' accounts the amounts that it receives.
Standard refund
The estimated time for receiving a refund is:
- For a partial tax refund based on a DTT, eleven months from the date of receipt by the Belgian Tax Authorities; and
- For total tax refunds based on Belgian domestic law, one year from the date of receipt by the Belgian Tax Authorities.
Note: These timings can vary depending on when the application is filed and on the complexity of the information supplied in the reclaim form.
Notes on tax reclaims
Customers warrant the completeness and accuracy of the information they supply to LuxCSD.
It is the customer's responsibility to determine any entitlement to a refund of tax withheld, to complete the required forms correctly and to calculate the amount due. LuxCSD is under no obligation to carry out any investigation in respect of such information.
With respect to tax reclaims in general, customers are reminded that LuxCSD accepts no responsibility for their acceptance or non-acceptance by the tax authorities of the respective country.