Genk and Turnhout nominated as tax "support zones"

The government of Flanders has applied to the federal government to have the areas around Genk and Turnhout declared “support zones”, allowing businesses that create jobs there to benefit from special tax conditions. Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters said he hoped the system could come into operation “as soon as possible. Everyone from the areas around Genk and Turnhout needs this”.

A competition and employment agreement reached last autumn between the regions and the federal government allows each region to nominate four support zones – areas hard-hit by redundancies that need the support of tax breaks to help get them back on their feet.

Businesses that take on new workers are exempted for two years from paying a portion of the income tax on workers’ salaries – the equivalent, said Peeters, of a 5.1% reduction on the cost of creating jobs. The government is nominating Genk, which is suffering the effects of the closure of the Ford factory (pictured), with the loss of more than 6,000 jobs, and Turnhout, which has seen the loss of about 500 jobs at Philips and Heinz.

The support system lasts for a maximum of six years and applies to a 40-kilometre radius around the businesses affected. In this case, that would cover the whole of Limburg, a part of Antwerp province and an area in the east of Flemish Brabant.