Projet de loi transformant le Code des taxes assimilées au timbre en Code des droits et taxes divers, abrogeant le Code des droits de timbre et portant diverses autres modifications législatives.
General information ¶
- Submitted by
- PS | SP MR Open Vld Vooruit Purple Ⅰ
- Submission date
- Nov. 10, 2006
- Official page
- Visit
- Status
- Adopted
- Requirement
- Simple
- Subjects
- administrative formalities tax stamp duty
Voting ¶
- Voted to adopt
- CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld N-VA MR FN VB
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Discussion ¶
Nov. 30, 2006 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)
Full source
Rapporteur Luk Van Biesen ⚙
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Secretary of State, the Committee on Finance and Budget discussed this bill at its meeting on 27 November 2006. The bill of the Lords Mathot, Pinxten, de Donnea and Mrs Baeke, amending Articles 190 and 195 of the Code of Taxes Equated with the Seal as regards the amount of the tax on the attachment and its payment, was added to the discussion.
Mr Vincent Van Quickenborne, State Secretary for Administrative Simplification, outlined the historical context of the matter in question. The sealing rights date back to the time of Napoleon. A sealing right on acts and writings was introduced by law of 3 Brumaire of the year VII, namely 3 November 1798. The first Belgian tax seals were introduced in 1857. The Code of Seal Rights as we now know it came into force on 1 October 1947 following the decree of the Regent.
More than two hundred years after the birth of seal rights and one hundred and fifty years after the introduction of fiscal seals, it was time to put an end to this outdated and customer-friendly payment method. Therefore, the government has decided to abolish the Code of Seal Rights in its entirety because it is a kafkaianly complicated claw. After all, it contains an impressive number of different rates of sealing rights, ranging from 15 euro cents to 7,5 euro. Given the low rates, the manufacturing costs of the seals are often higher than their official value.
In addition, the Code of Seal Rights is also the champion of the exceptions. There are ⁇ 72. Therefore, it is a complex matter to determine whether or not a fiscal seal should be placed on certain documents. If it turns out that there is an effective need to paste a seal, the citizen should go to the post office to purchase the appropriate fiscal seal. This is an additional source of discomfort.
In addition to the fiscal seal, in certain cases, seal rights are also fulfilled through sealed paper, especially in the case of acts of notaries and court enforcement officers. This outdated payment method will also disappear with the present bill.
The existence of seal rights also means for many municipalities a major barrier for the development of e-government. With the abolition of sealing rights for all municipal documents, a large number of documents can now be delivered via the Internet. A significant number of transfers to the municipality can therefore be saved in those municipalities where a real electronic lock is built.
The Secretary of State pointed out that this bill is the final phase of a simplification plan that has already gone through several stages. In recent years, several important seals have already been abolished. As of 1 January 2006, the use of tax seals for the application for a driving license was abolished and replaced by a payment with cash or bank card at a municipality. The payment of remuneration with tax seal at the registration of a car was also abolished. Since the end of March this year, the penalty seals have been replaced by a payment by transfer.
In the draft law under discussion, many small sealing rights that cause a lot of administrative burden and barely exceed their costs are simply abolished.
Thus, the right of five euros on the writings issued by the municipal governments disappears. These include the extracts from the register of civil status, the certificates of identity, nationality, domicile or residence, building permits, environmental permits and the certificates of good moral conduct.
Furthermore, the various sealing rights related to shipping and aviation that were applicable within the FOD Mobility are also abolished.
In addition, the attachment fee for posters less than one square meter disappears. For the other sealing rights, the payment method will be modernized. For example, one will be able to pay in cash or through a transfer.
In the light of a number of automation projects such as e-Depot, it is important for notaries and court enforcers to be able to draw up documents electronically. In that regard, the mandatory use of sealed paper, where the sealing rights are determined by the number of pages used, constitutes a real obstacle.
The draft law under discussion was therefore decided to abolish the sealed paper and to replace it with a flat-rate right for the notarial acts and the process-verbal of the court enforcement officers. The notaries and court executors will record the rights received in existing repertoires and then periodically transfer the amounts to the FOD Finance.
Legislation-technically the Code of Seal Rights is repealed in its entirety. It is included in the Code of Taxes equated with the seal that the new title Code received various rights and taxes. The titles I to VII of the Code of Taxes Equated with the Seal have been abolished for a long time. The released numbering is now partially reused to incorporate new provisions on rights with modernised payment methods into that Code.
The new Code of Diverse Rights and Taxes includes three books. The first book is titled “Rights on writings” and contains the sealing rights that will be paid with modern means of payment. The second book is titled Diverse Taxes and contains the articles derived from the former Code of Taxes Equated with the Seal. The third book contains the common provisions concerning the various duties and taxes.
In addition, several amendments have been made to the Civil Code, the Judicial Code, the Code of Registration, Mortgage and Registration Rights and to a number of other laws such as the legislation on corporate lockets.
The new Code of Diverse Rights and Taxes shall enter into force on the date specified by the Royal Decree. At the Council of Ministers of 27 October 2006, the date of entry into force was fixed on 1 January 2007.
The Secretary of State stresses that the Government has requested the urgent examination of the bill under discussion so that the benefits of the simplification implemented in this field from 1 January 2007 will benefit all citizens, public authorities, officials and other taxpayers.
He notes that the State Council’s opinion was followed in full.
Mrs Annemie Roppe notes that the bill under discussion abolishes a number of sealing rights, as well as the Code of Sealing Rights, the remaining content of which is included in the new Code of the various rights and taxes.
Although this draft law on seal rights includes substantial simplifications for the benefit of, among other things, the municipalities, the associations, the notaries, but also the citizens, it is not a final phase as the Secretary of State seems to indicate.
For example, the text under discussion does not refer to the banking sector, which, however, has long insisted on simplifying, in particular, the sealing fee of EUR 0,15 imposed on certain bank transactions. “Why does this right still exist?” the banking sector asks the question.
The State Secretary clarified that this bill constitutes the closing part of the elimination of the administrative burden. The paper mountain caused by the large number of different taxes should also be reduced as a result. The 0.15 euro duty owed by the banks is ⁇ ined, but this does not really pose a problem in terms of administrative simplification. The abolition of this tax was considered budgetarily inappropriate.
For the same reason, the Secretary of State was not in favour of the adoption today of the proposed bill amending Articles 190 and 195 of the Code of Taxes Equated with the Seal, as regards the amount of the tax on the attachment and its payment. This would also have a negative budgetary impact. It is important to consider the bill in a broader context, possibly after evaluation of the bill under discussion.
Mr Alain Mathot drew attention to the fact that the bill under discussion poses a danger to the supply companies. One should not forget that a series of municipal, provincial, and provincial taxes, which have a multiplier effect, come above the federal tax. Furthermore, the draft law aims to shift the responsibility for the charge of the printer to the printer, while the printer does not know the details of the order with the printer, in particular the number of posters ordered.
The Secretary of State pointed out several fundamental divergences between the bill under discussion and the aforementioned bill. For example, the bill ⁇ ins the duty of 0,10 euros per poster, if its area is less than that 1 m2, while the bill under discussion abolishes all rights for that type of poster. In addition, contrary to the simplification aimed at, the bill introduces a third rate, which all together has a general negative impact on the budget.
The bill under discussion is not intended to raise taxes. Like the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, the Secretary of State also considers it desirable that the responsibility of the supply company be retained. Mr Alain Mathot noted that the bill takes into account the existing legislation and not the bill under discussion, since it was submitted before the latter. He says that the proposers of the bill are willing to quickly adapt their text to the present bill. If, however, it turns out that this draft law has detrimental consequences for the supply companies, including on the point of responsibility for the supply tax to their burden, then the situation will need to be corrected, otherwise these companies will be threatened to get into great difficulties.
The Chairman of the Committee on Finance and Budget, Mr. de Donnea, proposed that the debate be focused on the current draft law and that at the same time it be ensured that the draft law is aligned with the draft law.
He suggests that the Cabinet of the Secretary of State will help the applicants of the bill to ensure coherence before its content is again discussed in the Committee on Finance and Budget. The Secretary of State approves this. The committee also unanimously agrees.
Regarding the article-by-article discussion and the vote, no comments were made on Articles 1 to 62. All articles were unanimously adopted.
The entire draft law, including the legislative and technical improvements, shall be approved unanimously. However, it should be added that at that time the committee only consisted of members of the majority and that apparently no member of the opposition wanted to be present.