Belgian Stock Exchange tax revenue grows in 2013

Belgium's stock exchange tax (‘taxe sur les opérations boursières’ or TOB), imposed on the buying and selling of investment products, yielded €20m more in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period in 2012, predominantly due to the tax rise implemented in Belgium last year, writes Tax News’s Ulrika Lomas. Last year, the government increased the standard TOB rate imposed on shares from 0.22% to 0.25%, with the amount of tax capped at €740 per transaction. Furthermore, the Government raised the TOB rate levied on accumulative shares from 0.65% to 1%, capped at €1,500 per transaction. The government nevertheless maintained the reduced TOB rate applied to bonds at 0.09%, capped at €650. According to L'Echo, as at the end of July 2013, Belgium's stock exchange tax had generated €88m for the country's tax authorities, marking an on-year rise of 30% compared to the same time in 2012, when the buying and selling of shares, bonds, and investment funds by individual investors garnered €68m for the state. The recorded TOB revenue increase is attributable not only to the 2012 tax rise, but also to the fact that the number of transactions in shares not listed on the Belgian stock market index, the Bel 20, carried out by small investors, was up 14% percent. Finally, Belgium's postal service bpost listed a minority stake on the Brussels Stock Exchange in June last year, further boosting TOB revenues.