At the end of September, the tax returns that accountants and tax advisers submit for their clients must also be received by the tax authorities. In recent years they have been granted a postponement for this, and this year too the accountants would like to obtain a postponement from the competent Minister of Finance Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V). He refuses to grant a postponement as long as ITAA, the professional organization involved, does not reach an agreement for future declarations, it sounds. Van Peteghem’s spokesperson says that the talks are ongoing.
ITAA’s position is that fixed data must be provided for the declarations, “taking into account all relevant factors and with the ultimate aim of being able to assist clients in a high-quality manner”. According to ITAA, Van Peteghem does not want to go along with this and proposes a postponement based on the complexity of the declaration. But, the accountants say, the definition of which declarations are complex, obviously has a huge impact on the future workload for the offices.
The professional federation also points the finger at Van Peteghem because he only announced at the end of April that the deadline for personal income tax will be set at the end of September. “That late announcement, combined with the deadline that is too short, poses a huge problem for ITAA members,” it said in a press release. “The industry has to file more than one million complex returns. With an average processing time of 15 hours per return, this means a huge amount of labor hours that need to be completed a month faster.”
ITAA therefore organized a survey among its members. More than nine in ten of them do not agree with a deadline at the end of this month.
“Van Peteghem rightly makes the fight against fraud a priority,” says ITAA chairman Bart Van Coile. “It is therefore a pity to note that the minister has so little feeling for the profession that is essential in this battle. The ITAA is prepared to reach a constructive agreement for the future, but this agreement must not only be workable for the tax administration, but also for the sector.”
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