After months of investigation, the Special Tax investigation service has discovered that many businesses are not paying enough VAT on their energy bills.
This was reported by the Het Laatste Nieuws and De Morgen on Saturday.
The papers say the Finance SPF thinks some businesses benefitted from a VAT rate below 21% between April 2014 and September 2015, when they shouldn’t have done.
During this period, families got a lower 6% rate on their electricity bills, while businesses paid 21%. Some businesses, mostly small ones, registered as “families”. This is either because they requested it, or because their electricity provider asked them to.
Investigators uncovered this fraud after looking at several customer files. Electricity providers should pay the rest of the VAT, and could face a fine if they don’t. The Finance SPF is not yet in a position to say how much.
