Annual tax on securities accounts: upcoming changes

As a reminder, the current Annual Tax on Securities Accounts (hereinafter TACT/JTER), introduced in 2021, included a tax of 0.15% on the average value of the targeted assets on your securities account when this exceeds €1,000,000 for the relevant reference period. The original text introducing the new tax established two irrebuttable presumptions of tax abuse, in the event of the splitting of a securities account or the conversion of dematerialised assets into registered securities. These two irrebuttable presumptions were struck down by the Constitutional Court at the end of 2022.

Re-establishment of specific anti-abuse measures in the event of the transfer of a securities account or conversion of financial assets into registered securities.

The federal government (the “Arizona” coalition) now wishes to reintroduce a specific (this time rebuttable) presumption of tax abuse¹:

• In the event of the transfer of a securities account in which the total value of the financial assets exceeds €1,000,000 immediately prior to the transaction, provided that the original holder is the (co-)holder of the securities account to which the financial assets are transferred;
• In the event of the conversion of financial assets into registered securities on a securities account whose value exceeds €1,000,000 immediately prior to conversion.

What transactions are likely to be excluded from the scope of this new measure?

Conversions or transfers motivated by considerations other than tax should in principle be excluded from the scope of the new measure.

For example, the splitting of a securities account resulting from a division carried out as part of inheritance or divorce proceedings, or as a gift, should not fall within the scope of the new anti-abuse measure.

Similarly, the splitting of a securities account for technical, operational or organisational reasons specific to the bank (such as, for example, a change in management profile) would not be covered by this anti-abuse measure either.

What are the practical implications for affected investors?

In the absence of non-tax related motivations, investors affected by the anti-abuse measure will in principle be required to consider the converted/transferred securities for the calculation of TACT/JTER. They will therefore be liable for additional tax, on top of the tax withheld by the bank as part of its legal obligations.

So, no change for the banking sector?

Not exactly. In principle, banks will be required, in the month following the end of the reference period, to inform the Belgian tax authorities of securities account transfers or conversions of financial assets into registered securities for securities accounts whose targeted asset value prior to the transfer or conversion exceeded €1,000,000. For the current reference period, this notification must be made by 31 October 2025 at the latest for transactions taking place from 1 July 2025 onwards.

According to the information currently in our possession, this reporting obligation should cover all transfer or conversion transactions, regardless of whether or not they are justified by non-tax related motivations.

It should also be noted that banks will soon be subject to an extended reporting obligation to the National Bank of Belgium's Central Point of Contact (CPC). From now on, banks will have to notify the CPC of securities accounts and related balances.

¹A bill to this effect has been tabled in Parliament.