“If we don’t do something, businesses will pack their bags”, warns Dominique Leroy, the CEO of Proximus. She was talking about business tax during an interview with L’Echo and L’Echo Samedi.
“Belgium is falling behind. Our 33.99% business tax absolutely has to be reduced. As a comparison, the European average is 22%. If we don’t reduce tax, we won’t attract businesses”, explained Mrs Leroy.
“Europe wants to get rid of special reductions our governments have put in place. This means the nominal tax rate becomes even more important”, she added.
“If we don’t do something, businesses will pack their bags. Audit and consulting companies like Deloitte and PwC are today working with numerous multinational businesses that want to leave Belgium”, warned the CEO.
“If our business tax is higher, we are less competitive than others that operate abroad”, she added. She also said that Brexit has increased the trend. “Numerous countries are reacting by taking protective measures to become more competitive. With our decentralised structure, it is more difficult for Belgium to take such measures”.
