Proposition 52K0521

Projet de loi modifiant le Code des impôts sur les revenus 1992 afin d'ajouter les polders et wateringues aux personnes morales de droit public assujetties à l'impôt des personnes morales.

General information ¶

Authors

Open Vld Guido De Padt, Luk Van Biesen

Submission date

Dec. 11, 2007

Official page

Visit

Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

direct tax water management

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld N-VA MR FN VB

Abstained from voting

LDD

Contact form ¶

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Discussion ¶

Jan. 21, 2010 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

The only useful thing I can do for the debate is that the Minister of Finance has said that the bill has a very limited financial envelope, namely 16 000 to 19 000 euros per year.

Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues, I will not make my speech longer than necessary. However, I think it is important to stop at the point. We no longer talk in our Assembly about polders and irrigation, because since the state reform, water management has been assigned to the regions. There are a number of fiscal measures to be taken.

What do we establish in this? Polders and Wateringen are public administrations responsible for water management in a given area. Flanders has 104 offices for polders and irrigation, which manage a total area of 311 000 hectares. Wallonia has about 45 Waterings. Through the bill we have sought to transfer the tax status as legal entities of those Polders and Waterings of category 3 according to WIB 222 to category 1. That is important, because such public administrations are actually subject to a number of taxes. For example, there are the tax on the value added of unbuilt immovable property, the tax on the income of upstall or inheritance lease, the tax on certain rent income, the tax on employer contributions for supplementary insurance.

The statute based on WIB 222, paragraph 3 actually worked paralytically on those public administrations. From various Polders and Wateringen therefore the demand arose to obtain a similar status as the municipalities.

Mr De Potter has rightly pointed out that the measure has a limited financial impact, namely a small amount of EUR 20 000 annually. However, the most important thing is that the public administrations concerned are now treated within the regions, both in Flanders and in Wallonia and Brussels, in a similar and equivalent manner as ordinary public administration. That is the only thing we tried to ⁇ through the bill and we have found a House-wide majority for that, for which I thank you. It was unanimously approved in our committee.

At the proposal of Minister Reynders, the date of entry into force of the bill was adjusted by Article 3, making the tax year 2011, income 1 January 2010. I therefore ask you, on behalf of the various public administrations of Polders and Wateringen, to approve the bill.

Mr. Speaker, we will abstain from this vote because this is one of those plague taxes, so to speak. The inning costs more than the revenue. I am in favour of simplifying the system and I think that this could have been simplified to no income anymore.

Thanks for this explanation.

Mr. Speaker, I am, of course, against any form of pest tax, but here it is arranged that some taxes that were levied on the polders and irrigations are abolished. In other words, this bill provides for a better status, thereby eliminating the current pest taxes.

Mr. Dedecker, with your comment, you say exactly the opposite of what this bill aims at. Polders and Wateringen ask the Chamber to let this happen. This proposal was unanimously approved in the committee.

Mr. Speaker, there has probably been a certain form of you-speak master made of Open Vld. I am paying the toll on the polders. I spend approximately 8.59 euros per year on this. If one looked at the time required to calculate this tax, and if one took into account the inning and the control, then one would see that the soup is not worth the coal. This tax is more destructive to wealth than its proceeds create wealth.

Mr. de Dedecker, I can understand that you, as a large land owner, as a large polder owner, have to pay some taxes, but unfortunately this is not the forum where you should discuss this. The forum where such taxes are levied is the Flemish Parliament and not here.

All we do is change the statute of Polders and Wateringen as public administration from category 3 WIB 220 to category 1, making them less taxable than before. I hope you understand what you are voting for.

Mr. Van Biesen, at this I invite you to come to me at Polder, somewhere in the plain of Middelkerke, along the ship, to drink a glass, on that tremendously large farm. You are warmly welcomed.

Mr. Dedecker, you know that when you invite me, even for the presentation of a book, or at an inauguration, I am present.

For the rest, you can arrange your private schedule in other places.