Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): Belgium has until September 20 to embrace a savings plan of €28 billion to €14 billion from reforms and €14 billion from raised taxes or spending cuts. De Wever put forth a proposal to tax investment profits at 10% in a bid to take advantage of the €250 billion in savings to take in government revenue.
Before September 20 Belgium must devise a scheme to cut back its expenditures by €28 billion. They seek to save €14 billion via reforms and enhancements and additionally another €14 billion through tax hike or financial restraint. It is an attempt designed to rein in their large budget deficit and national debt.
How will Belgium balance its budget and improve the economy?
The next government which five political parties in Belgium are trying to form targets improving society and the economy. They are planning big reforms but they don’t agree on how. Helping facilitate the discussion,De Wever provided a list of proposals aimed at balancing the budget of Belgium. De Wever is suggesting a new idea where people who save and invest money are helped. He is for introducing a tax of 10 percent on the profits from selling stocks or bonds. Few countries like Belgium do not levy any taxes on this kind of investment gain and De Wever wants to put an end to this.
Investors who lose money while purchasing stocks or any other securities make profits that could be utilized to clear their tax debts according to De Wever. They are also permitted to deduct losses incurred from earlier investments. He wants responsible savers and investors to pay no new taxes and for this he believes they should earn €6000 without any obligation to pay tax. He wants active owners and big holders to be in a position to sell off sums of important value without having to pay for capital gains until they reach a total of capital gains of €2.5 million from business assets. He proposed on the practical front the reduction of withholding tax on interest and dividends among others from 30% to 25%.
De Wever’s tax plan which some didn’t like is still in play. He also wants to get rid of the tax break on savings accounts making them less appealing financially. The first €1020 you earn in interest on savings accounts is tax-free but De Wever wants to tax all income from term accounts and savings bonds at 30% right from the start. Belgians save a lot like €250 billion in savings accounts. But this doesn’t help the country much. De Wever’s ideas want to use this money to make some cash for the government. By taxing savings in one go these ideas match what Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V) suggested before.
