Tax Blogs

The laws and regulations governing domestic and international tax are evolving at a rapid pace. To help you keep track of all these developments, our multidisciplinary tax specialists share the latest news on taxation in the Netherlands and abroad in the blogs below.

The OECD released technical guidance on Pillar Two

16 March 2022

The OECD released detailed technical guidance on the Pillar Two model rules for a 15% global minimum tax and illustrative examples on 14 March 2022. The examples are helpful in understanding how the Model GloBE Rules apply to most commonly seen fact patterns.

See the full text of the Commentary to the GloBE Rules and the illustrative examples.

Bill on a conditional dividend withholding exit tax

20 January 2022

On 8 December 2021, a fourth memorandum of amendment (nota van wijziging or the "Amendments") to the Bill on a Conditional Dividend Withholding Exit Tax (Spoedwet conditionele eindafrekening dividendbelasting or the "Bill") was submitted to the Dutch Parliament. The Amendments were due to the many concerns about the Bill's compatibility with EU and tax treaty law that were expressed by scholars and practitioners. The Bill's main features remain unaffected. As explained in our previous blogs, the Bill introduces an exit charge ("Exit Charge") for Dutch dividend withholding tax ("DWT") purposes for certain cross-border reorganisations (e.g. cross-border mergers, migration).

Top 10 things you need to know about Pillar Two – Q&A

24 December 2021

After intensive work and negotiations, members of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework ("IF") on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ("BEPS") have agreed on a two-pillar solution to establish a new framework for the international tax system.

On 20 December 2021, the OECD published detailed rules ("Model Rules") to help implement the second pillar: Pillar Two. On 22 December 2021, the Model Rules were followed by the European Commission's proposed directive on the implementation of Pillar Two within the EU. This Q&A focuses on how Pillar Two will affect multinational enterprises ("MNEs").

Legislative proposal for Dutch Qualification Policy for Legal Forms

6 July 2021

On 23 April 2021, we published a News Update on the Internet consultation for the Dutch Tax Qualification Policy for Legal Forms Act (Wet aanpassing fiscaal kwalificatiebeleid rechtsvormen, “Legislative Proposal”).

On 2 June 2021, the Dutch State Secretary of Finance announced that amending the Dutch qualification of mutual funds (“MFs”, fonds voor gemene rekening) is no longer part of the Legislative Proposal. The Dutch State Secretary of Finance believes the previously proposed changes to MFs would severely impact institutional investors (e.g. pension funds and insurers) aiming to diversify their investment risks and further investigation is required to come up with a new proposal for MFs.

The Dutch FBI (fiscale beleggingsinstelling) and the VBI (vrijgestelde beleggingsinstelling) – which are commonly used by institutional investors through MFs – is expected to be evaluated in the first three months of 2022. The Dutch State Secretary of Finance has therefore proposed to make any amendment to the tax qualification of a MF in conjunction with the evaluation's outcome.

Finally, the Dutch State Secretary of Finance announced earlier that the Legislative Proposal for the Dutch Qualification Policy for Legal Forms Act is no longer part of the Budget Day 2021 proposals. The Legislative Proposal on the tax classification of limited partnerships (commanditaire vennootschap) will be submitted to the House of Representatives this winter.

We will keep you informed of any further developments through this dedicated Houthoff Tax blog.

Political agreement reached on proposed country-by-country reporting Directive

3 June 2021

On 1 June 2020, representatives of the Portuguese presidency of the Council reached political agreement with the European Parliament’s negotiating team on the proposed directive on the disclosure of corporate income tax ("CIT") information by certain undertakings and branches, commonly referred to as the public country-by-country reporting ("CbCR") directive.

Bill on the introduction of a conditional withholding tax on dividends (Wet invoering conditionele bronbelasting op dividenden)

26 March 2021

On Thursday 25 March 2021, the State Secretary for Finance submitted the Bill on the introduction of a conditional withholding tax on dividends (Wet invoering conditionele bronbelasting op dividenden or the "Bill") to the Dutch parliament. The Bill will combat tax avoidance and excessively aggressive tax planning. The government had already announced in its 2021 Tax Plan (see our 2021 Budget Day specials of 15 September and 8 October 2020) that it intended to introduce a conditional withholding tax on dividends paid to entities or permanent establishments in certain designated low-tax jurisdictions (i.e. a statutory tax rate of less than 9%) and non-cooperative. The withholding tax would only apply to the extent that the recipient owns a qualifying interest in the entity distributing the dividend and also cover abusive arrangements. This controlling interest typically exists when the recipient of the dividends can exercise control over the distributing entity (e.g. through holding 50% of the statutory voting rights). The government announced that the conditional dividend withholding tax would apply in addition to the pre-existing regular dividend withholding tax of 15% (if applicable).