Towards a digitalization of tax audits

Following a new bill, the Belgian tax authorities have the right to request taxpayers who keep their books and records digitally to submit them through a secured online platform. This is not limited to books/accounts but includes any document that is relevant to determine the taxpayer’s taxable income.
This new provision lowers the barrier for the Belgian tax authorities to perform a tax audit and could thus possibly increase the number of tax audits in the future. This would also result in a substantial increase of digital data available to the Belgian tax authorities, which allows datamining in relation to the information submitted and therefore more efficient tax audits.
The preparatory works to the bill confirm that these changes do not affect the Belgian tax authorities’ right to visit to the taxpayer’s premises (either by way of an announced tax audit or by way of a dawn raid).