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Royal Decree VAT rate for goods/services with regard to photovoltaic solar panels, thermal solar panels and solar water heaters, heat pumps, ..

Royal Decree amending Royal Decree No. 20 of 20 July 1970 fixing the rates of value added tax and classifying goods and services under those rates with regard to photovoltaic solar panels, thermal solar panels and solar water heaters , the heat pumps, and the demolition and reconstruction of buildings on the entire Belgian territory, concerns

PHILIP, King of the Belgians,

To all who are now and to be hereafter, OUR GREETINGS.

In view of the Value Added Tax Code, Article 37, § 1, replaced by the Act of 28 December 1992;

Having regard to Royal Decree No 20 of 20 July 1970 fixing the rates of value added tax and classifying goods and services at those rates;

Having regard to the advice of the Inspector of Finance, given on March 22, 2022;

In view of the agreement of the State Secretary for the Budget, dated 22 March 2022;

In view of the laws on the Council of State, coordinated on January 12, 1973, Article 3, § 1;

In view of the urgent necessity;

Considering:

– that, like the entire European Union, Belgium has been confronted for several months with a sustained substantial increase in energy prices, in particular in electricity and natural gas prices; 

– that initially the price increases were attributable to the strong revival of economic activity as the COVID-19 pandemic weakened worldwide;

– that for a number of weeks there have been additional particularly sharp price increases for energy products and in particular for natural gas and heat via heat networks, due to the uncertainty of the supply of Russian gas due to the war in Ukraine and the impact of the sanctions of the European Union against Russia;

– that on March 14, 2022, the Government approved a third energy package with numerous measures to ensure the affordability of energy bills for households, in particular with regard to fossil energy sources, including the introduction of a temporary reduction in VAT tariff for the supply of natural gas, an energy check of 200 euros for people who heat themselves with fuel oil, propane or butane, as well as a reduction in excise duty on diesel and petrol;

that this temporary reduction in the tax burden on the purchase of fossil energy sources, which constitutes an urgent measure to mitigate the short-term consequences of the energy price increase for households, cannot in itself be regarded as a definitive solution for the energy issue;

– that the energy issue must be solved fundamentally by revolutionizing the way in which our citizens use energy in order to stop being dependent on the scarcity of fossil energy sources;

– that, on the one hand, energy consumption must be rationalized as much as possible and, on the other, full efforts must be made towards the transition from fossil to renewable and sustainable energy sources;

– that the Declaration of Versailles on 10-11 March 2022 by EU leaders clearly showed that the European Union is moving towards greater independence from fossil fuels, which is important both to protect our citizens from the insecurity of supply and the sharply rising prices as to substantially reduce the burden on our environment with polluting emissions from fossil energy sources;

– that it is absolutely essential to move towards greater independence from fossil energy sources as soon as possible by phasing out their use in favor of renewable energy sources in order to achieve a society that is completely decoupled from fossil energy sources;

– that the preferential VAT tariff measures decided by the Government on March 18, 2022 and aimed at a reduced VAT rate of 6 pc. to be introduced for the delivery with installation of solar panels, solar water heaters and heat pumps in order to provide or maintain a substantial fiscal stimulus as soon as possible for actions that support the energy transition, so that they must come into effect as soon as possible; 

– the same applies to the extension for a period of one year of the existing reduced rate of 6 pc. for the demolition and reconstruction of buildings throughout the territory of Belgium, since the extension of that measure, which makes a significant contribution to the modernization of the Belgian housing stock that is no longer eligible for renovation, must be formalized well in advance in order to ensure legal certainty to be provided to builders in respect of projects which by their nature span several months to several years;

Having regard to the exception for carrying out the regulatory impact analysis on the basis of Article 8, § 2, 2°, of the Law of 15 December 2013 containing various provisions on administrative simplification;

On the proposal of the Minister of Finance and on the advice of the Ministers meeting in the Council,

We have decided and we decide:

Article 1. In Article 1quater of Royal Decree No. 20 of 20 July 1970 fixing the rates of value added tax and classifying goods and services under those rates, the word “2022” is replaced by the word “2023”.

art. 2. In the same Decree an article 1quater/1 is inserted, reading:

“Art. 1quater/1. § 1. Notwithstanding Article 1, from 1 April 2022 to 31 December 2023, work on immovable property the object of which is the delivery with installation of:

1° photovoltaic solar panels on or in the immediate vicinity of homes;

2° thermal solar panels and solar water heaters in, on or in the immediate vicinity of homes;

3° heat pumps in, on or in the immediate vicinity of homes.

§ 2. The application of the reduced rate is subject to the following conditions:

1° the operations are provided and invoiced to a final consumer within the meaning of sections XXXI, §§ 1 and 2 and XXXVIII, §§ 1 and 2, of table A of the annex to this decree;

2° the acts relate to a home which, after their execution, is actually used either exclusively or mainly as a private home;

3° the acts must be performed at a home of which the first use in the course of a calendar year that is less than ten years prior to the first invoice relating to those acts;

4° the technical installations that are the subject of the operations referred to in paragraph 1, 2° and 3° meet the benchmarks for emissions as set respectively in Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2015/1189 of the Commission of 28 April 2015 implementing Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to ecodesign requirements for solid fuel boilers and of Annex V to Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1185 of 24 April 2015 implementing Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to ecodesign requirements for solid fuel local space heaters which have been assigned an EU energy label demonstrating compliance with the criterion of Article 7(7) 2,of Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2017 establishing a framework for energy labeling and repealing Directive 2010/30/EU;

5° the invoice issued by the service provider and the duplicate that he keeps state that the elements justifying the application of the reduced rate are available and contain the following statement:

“Btw-tarief: Bij gebrek aan schriftelijke betwisting binnen een termijn van één maand vanaf de ontvangst van de factuur, wordt de klant geacht te erkennen dat (1) de werken worden verricht aan een woning waarvan de eerste ingebruikneming heeft plaatsgevonden in een kalenderjaar dat minder dan tien jaar voorafgaat aan de datum van de eerste factuur met betrekking tot die werken, (2) de woning, na uitvoering van die werken, uitsluitend of hoofdzakelijk als privéwoning wordt gebruikt en (3) de werken worden verstrekt en gefactureerd aan een eindverbruiker. Wanneer minstens één van die voorwaarden niet is voldaan, zal het normale btw-tarief van 21 pct. van toepassing zijn en is de afnemer ten aanzien van die voorwaarden aansprakelijk voor de betaling van de verschuldigde belasting, interesten en geldboeten.”.

The reduced rate does not apply under any circumstances to the acts referred to in paragraph 1 with regard to technical installations that are solely responsible for the energy or heat supply of elements of the house that are not used for habitation in the strict sense, such as swimming pools, saunas and similar installations.”

art. 3. This Decree shall enter into force on 1 April 2022.

art. 4. The Minister responsible for Finance is charged with the implementation of this Decree.

Given to

PHILIPPINES

From the King:

The Minister of Finance,

V. VAN PETEGHEM

Source: financien.belgium.be

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