Everyone’s a winner with the Tax Shelter.
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Since 2003, the Tax Shelter mechanism has enjoyed uninterrupted success, with thousands of Belgian firms using it for operations worth around 200 million euros per year. The funds gathered from Belgian companies are used to finance Belgian or European films which incur production expenditure in Belgium.
The Tax Shelter’s positive economic impact is as clear for investors as it is for the Belgian audiovisual sector, which since the law’s entry into force, has seen two-figure growth in employment and a 250% increase in the number of Belgian (co)productions.
For the government, the system’s financial efficency is tried and tested. According to a study by the Catholic University of Leuven (UCL) conducted in collaboration with SCOPE Invest, the tax breaks granted to Belgian companies are more than offset by the tax revenue generated by the production expenditure attracted to Belgium.
The investor, the audiovisual sector and the government… Everyone’s a winner with the Tax Shelter!
The audiovisual Tax Shelter has proven to be a big hit among investors, which is hardly surprising given the overall yield of approximately 15% net which it generates for companies which have correctly understood its benefits. Each year, a grand total of approximately half a billion euros benefits from tax exemption via this mechanism. But it’s much more than just a tax "gift" offered by the state to businesses!
The Tax Shelter also offers very attractive fiscal benefits for the public purse, which are superior to the tax "gift" granted. This positive impact is made possible by the “minimum Belgian expenditure”, which enables the government to make a profit of between 10 and 30 cents per euro invested in tax revenue (IPP & ISOC), social security contributions and VAT returns.
So the Tax Shelter clearly benefits the investing company, the audio-visual sector and the Belgian State. As a result, the system has established a sustainable place among the government’s effective fiscal measures.