Multinationals take €45bn out of Belgium

Multinational companies have started moving money from Belgium to other countries, De Morgen and Het Laatste Nieuws report today. Over the last three months of last year, €45 billion left Belgium, the dailies say, quoting figures from the OECD. The massive capital withdrawal is due to a drop in the notional interest deductible rate. Thanks to this Belgium-specific scheme, companies can deduct  a notional interest from their taxable profits. The government slashed the deductible rate to 3% in late 2011 and 2.7% last year. Many multinational companies have also moved their internal banking to Luxembourg, following the examples of ArcelorMittal and Philips. Because of this outflow of money in the last quarter of 2012, Belgium is the least attractive destination for capital out of 34 countries surveyed by the OECD.