Belgium

Government Measure

Undertakings financially affected by the COVID-19 outbreak can apply for a payment deferral under their corporate credit facilities for a maximum period of six months, pursuant to which such undertakings will not have to repay principal under such facilities for a maximum period of six months. Interest on loans will remain due and payable.

Once the deferral period has expired, repayment of principal will resume and the term of the credit facility will be extended by the deferral period.

Eligibility

Payment deferrals of corporate credit facilities may be requested by undertakings (established in Belgium) that are non-financial enterprises, which meet each of the following three criteria:

• the relevant undertaking faces liquidity shortages due to the COVID-19 outbreak;
• the relevant undertaking was not in payment default in respect of existing credit facilities, taxes or social security contributions on 1 February 2020 or had not incurred late payment delays of more than 30 days with respect to existing credit facilities, taxes or social security contributions on 29 February 2020; and
• the relevant undertaking had fulfilled all its contractual credit obligations with all banks in the 12 month period prior to 31 January 2020.

Payment deferrals may only be requested for credit facilities with a fixed repayment schedule; other types of credit facilities are not covered by this measure.

Supervising Authority

Belgian National Bank, Belgian federal government and financial sector.

Applications for payment deferral to be made directly to the bank.

Availability Date(s)

Applications for payment deferral to be submitted by 31 October 2020, at the latest.

Government Measure

Undertakings that have to close as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and which satisfy certain conditions can benefit from a one-time compensation premium. The amount of the compensation premium depends on the region in which the undertaking is located:

• Brussels Capital: €4k per establishment unit of the undertaking, with a maximum of five compensation premiums being paid per undertaking;
• Flanders: €4k per establishment unit of the undertaking, with a maximum of five compensation premiums being paid per undertaking plus an additional amount of €165 per day that the undertaking is closed after 5 April 2020; and
• Wallonia: €5k (one premium per company number).

These compensation premiums are tax-free and, therefore, will not be subject to income taxes.

Eligibility

Undertakings must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the hindrance compensation premium:

Brussels Capital: Undertakings should: (i) have less than 50 FTEs; (ii) be active in one of the sectors listed in this Decree; and (iii) face a forced closure due to the measures imposed by the Belgian government as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Flanders: Undertakings should face a forced closure due to the measures imposed by the Belgian government as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Wallonia: Undertakings should have: (i) less than 50 FTEs; and (ii) an annual turnover of less than €10m or an annual balance sheet total of no more than €10m. Undertakings can verify whether they are eligible for the compensation premium by entering their enterprise number here.

Supervising Authority

Regional authorities

Availability Date(s)

Brussels Capital - Application to be filed by 1 June 2020, at the latest.

Flanders - Application to be filed by 18 June 2020, at the latest.

Wallonia - Application had to be filed by 12 May 2020, at the latest.

Government Measure

Undertakings which are not forced to close but suffer from a significant decrease in turnover as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, can benefit from a one-time compensation premium of €3k (per establishment unit of the undertaking, with a maximum of five compensation premiums being paid per undertaking).

These compensation premiums are tax-free and, therefore, will not be subject to income taxes.

Eligibility

Undertakings must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the compensation premium: (i) be situated in Flanders; (ii) have a decreased turnover of more than 60% (compared to the same period last year) due to the COVID-19 outbreak; and (iii) not be entitled to the hindrance compensation premium (mentioned above).

Supervising Authority

Flemish government

Availability Date(s)

Not yet implemented.

Government Measure

Undertakings that are not forced to close but whose activities were substantially interrupted in March 2020 and April 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak can benefit from a one-time compensation premium of €2.5k.

These compensation premiums are tax-free and, therefore, will not be subject to income taxes.

Eligibility

Undertakings must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the compensation premium: (i) be situated in Wallonia; and (ii) be eligible for a full “bridge compensation” (overbruggingsrecht/droit de passerelle) in March 2020 or April 2020.

Supervising Authority

Walloon government

Availability Date(s)

Not yet implemented.

Government Measure

Eligible SMEs can apply for a subordinated loan from ParticipatieMaatschappij Vlaanderen for a minimum amount of €25k and a maximum amount of €2m and for a term of three years. Interest on the loan is payable at the end of the term of the loan.

Eligibility

Financially sound and viable SMEs situated in Flanders are eligible for such a subordinated loan provided that the following criteria are met by the relevant SME: (i) it has experienced financial difficulties due to the COVID-19 outbreak; (ii) it is not considered to be an undertaking in difficulty; (iii) it did not have arrears on current credits, taxes, VAT or social security contributions at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak; (iv) its existing bank loans and other credits remain in place (meaning that the concerned financial institutions remain involved); and (v) 80% of its total workforce at the end of 2019 is (or will be on short notice) employed (i.e. not temporary unemployed) or it re-employs (i.e. ends temporary unemployment of) 50% of its total number of employees.

Supervising Authority

Flemish government, ParticipatieMaatschappij Vlaanderen

Availability Date(s)

In place.

Government Measure

Eligible SMEs that have cash-flow needs can obtain a rebound loan of a maximum amount of €45k on very favourable terms.

SMEs are not entitled to a rebound loan if they have received the hindrance compensation premium or the compensation premium (see above).

Eligibility

SMEs situated in Wallonia that have cash-flow difficulties.

Supervising Authority

Walloon government and the financial institutions.

Availability Date(s)

In place.

Government Measure

A two month extension has been granted for the payment of the following taxes:

• Personal income tax, corporate income tax, non-resident income tax, legal entity tax, with respect to tax assessment year 2019 whereby the tax is assessed as from 12 March 2020 onwards.
• VAT and payroll tax with respect to February 2020, March 2020 and April 2020 for monthly taxpayers and with respect to the first quarter of 2020 for quarterly taxpayers.

Eligibility

This measure applies to undertakings, entrepreneurs and individuals. More detailed information can be found on the FPS Finance website.

Supervising Authority

FPS Finance

Availability Date(s)

N.A.

Government Measure

Eligible undertakings may make an application for the deferral of payment of payroll tax, VAT, corporate income tax and legal entity tax. The granting of a deferral, and the duration of any such deferral, is at the discretion of the Belgium tax authorities.

Eligibility

All undertakings with a valid Belgian enterprise number that encounter hindrance as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The undertakings concerned should file a specific form. For more information about eligibility please see here.

Supervising Authority

Regional Tax Collecting Service

Availability Date(s)

The request form should be filed by 31 December 2020, at the latest.