Proposition 54K3180

Projet de loi relatif au paiement des pensions, allocations et rentes du secteur public.

General information ¶

Submitted by

MR Swedish coalition

Submission date

June 18, 2018

Official page

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Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

administrative formalities payment electronic government public sector pension scheme

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP DéFI ∉ Open Vld N-VA LDD MR PVDA | PTB PP VB

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Discussion ¶

July 5, 2018 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

The rapporteur is Mr Gilkinet.

Mr. Speaker, as you have just said, this is a bill concerning the payment of pensions, allowances and rents of the public sector, which was examined by the Social Affairs Committee on 27 June last. The principle is that of a single payment of all pensions granted to the same beneficiary by merging the different systems that coexisted with the Federal Service of Pensions with regard to the payment of pensions and benefits.

From now on, Minister Bacquelaine explained to us, one and the same computer application will be used regardless of the pension scheme, which will allow to harmonize the terms of payment of pensions, and each pensioner(s) will receive at the same date all the pensions to which he or she is entitled, while previously, if he or she benefited from pensions from different schemes, there could be fractional payments.

The principle is that the payment will now be made at the end of the month. The principle of a monthly payment is generalized. Some beneficiaries received pensions quarterly. Pensions will be paid during the month to which they relate and public pensions will be paid in advance, that is, at the beginning of the month, which will allow to anticipate with one month, in case of index passage, the payment of the indexed pension.

All members reacted positively to this government project. Ms. Temmerman ⁇ that this was a project that goes in the direction of simplification. She asked the Minister about the existence of three separate payment dates, asking him if there was no need to provide for a single payment date.

I also supported the project by questioning the Minister about the economies of scale that will be achieved in this way, worrying about the information of entitled recipients and the difference in terms of payment dates between the old system and the new, this to avoid cash problems for recipients. I asked the Minister about the tax consequences of the arrangement since in the first year, since the pension will be paid in the course of the month in which it is due, some pensioners will benefit from 13 months of pension – in this case for the year 2018 or for the year 2019, if the application of the system is postponed. I also asked the Minister about the possibility for entitled recipients to continue to receive payment via postal assignment, regardless of the new system.

Ms Fonck asked about the tax consequences of the transaction, wanting to make sure that an agreement had been reached with the Minister of Finance and his administration.

She was surprised at the possibility of postponing the entry into force of the law by one year and insisted on the importance of properly informing entitled subsistence holders of the possibility of payment by circular check.

Mrs Thoron welcomed this project by highlighting the benefits in terms of simplification and readability. Just like Mr. Lachaert who questioned why the pensions of the SNCB were not part of the reform.

Mrs Becq, as the last speaker, questioned the possibility of implementing the reform from 1 July – given its technical importance – and the tax consequences for the beneficiaries. Finally, Mr. Spooren requested an estimate of the economies of scale.

The Minister responded to us that the text had been the subject of an opinion and unanimous agreement of the workers' representative organisations consulted. He specified that the possibility will survive of a payment by postal assignment for the rightful beneficiaries who have not communicated to the administration their bank account number. He also specified that the Federal Service will not produce proactive steps to search for them. Consequently, the right to receive a payment by postal assignment will be retained.

He reassured the commission about the existence of an agreement with the Minister of Finance and technical arrangements to avoid over-taxation of the 13th monthly pension that would be received in 2018 or 2019, following the entry into force of the reform. He informed us of the establishment of an information campaign for right holders and specified that the possibility of postponing the reform by one year was motivated by the fact that it was a technologically risky operation.

In the end, all the articles and the text itself were unanimously adopted by our committee. I thank you for your attention.