17 Jul Estate planning – the cheese route soon to be closed?

Until now, donations of movable property (or other transfers) registered in the Netherlands by a Belgian resident remained untaxed (Belgians talk about the so-called “cheese route”).

However, on June, 17, 2020, the Belgian government submitted a proposition of law amending the Registration, Mortgage and Court Duties Code that renders mandatory the registration of foreign notarial deeds in Belgium.

If this bill is adopted in the near future, registration of a deed of donation of movable property will no longer be possible without paying taxes.

The split purchase technique where the children receive the bare ownership of a property with money from the parents via a foreign donation are also concerned by this project. In the event of the death of the parents, this technique did indeed exonerate the children from inheritance tax even if they were given full ownership.

Those who wish to avoid these taxes of 3%, 3.3%, 5.5% or 7% (depending on the Region) may want to go forward with donations before the bill is adopted.

For more information on that subject, feel free to contact Didier CHAVAL esq. (didier.chaval@cairnlegal.be).

Best regards,
The Cairn Legal team.