The continued improvement in the fiscal and
regulatory climate for businesses is fostering investment, employment
and innovation and therefore stimulating economic growth.
Enterprises are being encouraged to pursue their
research and development activities with the help of the exemption from
corporation tax of the allowances and subsidies granted by regional
institutions under R&D aid schemes. Furthermore, technological
innovation is promoted by a new tax allowance encouraging companies to
acquire and develop patents.
Moreover, various measures have been adopted in a
bid to attract foreign investment in Belgium, such as the introduction
of the principle of fiscal uniformity as regards VAT, a legal framework
for pension funds or the widening of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive to
companies established in a country with which Belgium has concluded a
double taxation agreement.
Preserving business competitiveness is also a key
priority. In close consultation with the social partners, the government
is undertaking, by means of the law on competitiveness and a reduction
in employers' contributions, to ensure a more favourable movement in
wage costs in Belgium than in its main trading partners. When the
central agreement for 2007-2008 was concluded, the government decided to
introduce a specific reduction in charges to help employers from October
2007. This "intersectoral structural wage adjustment" accounts for 0.15%
of total labour costs and works as a reduction in the withholding tax.
The various reductions in charges mentioned above are also helping to
safeguard business competitiveness.
The administrative constraints on businesses will
also be reduced by an easing of the statistical burden and the
development of e-government (notably with optimal use of the Crossroads
Bank for Enterprises). Citizens will benefit from the development of
e-government too, for dealing with administrative formalities or using
the electronic identity card, for instance.
