Residence fraud: amendment to the treaty with Morocco

Sixty percent of Moroccan immigrants in our country already own property in Morocco. It is usually a house, but can also be land or a block of flats. Today, our tax authority already has data on who these owners are; however, the tax authority is still not permitted to pass on that information to our social housing associations. “And yet, a proper exchange of information is important for countering residence fraud,” says Minister of Finance Johan Van Overtveldt, who in the interim has already devised a solution.

Anyone wishing to rent or buy a social (government-assisted) home must not own any other properties, including abroad. For homes in Belgium, this is easy to check in the land registry. The same goes for homes in the European Union. But what if someone has a home in Morocco?

Tax return

“In fact, our tax authority already has data in this regard, but according to the tax treaty with Morocco, those data may only be used for tax purposes,” Minister Van Overtveldt explains. “In other words, to check whether the tax return was correct. Passing the info on to social housing companies is therefore not permitted.” The Minister has therefore instructed his administration to propose an amendment to the treaty with Morocco, in which that section is now included.