Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – In an interview, MR’s Georges-Louis Bouchez expressed satisfaction with the new government but noted a missing 10-year share exemption rule. He cited meeting notes and N-VA’s Bart De Wever’s statement as proof. Bouchez also criticized the Vivaldi government’s vague agreement.
In a recent interview with De Tijd, MR chairman Georges-Louis Bouchez shared his thoughts on the talks that formed Belgium’s new federal government. He expressed happiness with the results. Bouchez mentioned that he agreed to a capital gains tax as part of the negotiations. However, he noted that a key rule to exempt investors who hold shares for 10 years was in earlier talks but is missing from the final agreement.
He claimed to have a written note from discussions at the Royal Military Academy that proves this exemption was part of the deal. Bouchez also pointed to a statement from Bart De Wever, the N-VA leader, as further evidence. He added that he keeps careful records, even of supermarket receipts, to support his claims.
“I have an agreement with the prime minister about that, De Wever himself stated that on TV,”
Says Bouchez.
Did Vivaldi’s weak deal lead to tax confusion?
Georges-Louis Bouchez spoke about differences between the Dutch and French versions of the coalition agreement. He noted that the French version does not mention the tax rate for capital gains between €2.5 million and €5 million. Bouchez said,
“If they want to follow the text closely, then the rate for amounts between €2.5 and €5 million will be zero percent.”
He mentioned that this statement shows his frustration with the inconsistencies. He believes that missing information could lead to unexpected tax issues.
Georges-Louis Bouchez shared his thoughts on the previous Vivaldi government and how it functioned. He criticized the way ministers often took actions that either went against or were not included in the coalition agreement. Bouchez described the Vivaldi agreement as “short and vague,” which he believed was due to a lack of agreement among the coalition partners.
Bouchez made it clear that he was not personally criticising the former Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, but was instead commenting on the nature of the government, calling it a “crisis government.” In contrast, Bouchez praised the current Arizona coalition agreement for being clear and detailed. He implied that this leads to a more united and effective government.
“The problem with Vivaldi was that ministers initiated things that went against the coalition agreement or were not in it,”
Bouchez says.
