Package of anti-fraud measures expanded further

The government is providing additional backing in the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion through two important additional measures, beyond the eight that were announced earlier. “The investigative instruments are extended and we expect cooperation and transparency from financial institutions,” Minister of Finance and Anti-fraud Johan Van Overtveldt states.

At the proposal of the Minister, a notification requirement will be introduced for financial institutions. The revelations in the Panama Papers led to questions about their involvement in all kinds of large-scale tax structures in tax havens. “From now on, they will be required to periodically provide compulsory lists of their connections and payments to tax havens to the anti-money laundering unit CFI,” Johan Van Overtveldt explains.

Better data exchange

The Central Point of Contact (CPC) is a register at the National Bank of Belgium that contains the bank account numbers and contracts that are located at financial institutions in Belgium. In order to improve data exchange in fraud cases, access to that register will now be extended to the anti-money laundering unit (CFI), the Public Prosecutor’s Department, the examining magistrate, the Central Office for Seizure and Confiscation (COSC) and the police services that conduct criminal investigations. The same applies to magistrates, bailiffs, notaries, trustees and certain departments of the tax administration; via a motivated request and compliant with privacy laws, they can also gain access to the CPC in fraud cases.