The Cabinet has set the fiscal conditions concerning tax shelters and crowdfunding for start-ups. The government wants to give start-ups a helping hand with these incentives. Although the regulations apply to all sectors, Alexander De Croo, Minister of Digital Agenda (Open VLD), hopes that startups will emerge predominantly within the innovative sectors.
The incentives included within the fiscal conditions are tax shelters for start-ups, deductible digital investments and financial benefits for crowdfunding.
The taxes on personal income will be reduced by 30% for SMEs and 45% for micro-enterprises. However, these reductions are limited under the conditions that an investor or individual can invest no more than 100.000 euros annually and the company cannot collect a total of more than 250.000 euros through these types of investments.
The government is making the introduction of capital and loans through crowdfunding more appealing through a reduction in personal income tax on the investment in capital as well as an exemption from withholding tax on interest from loans. The investments in capital are eligible for a tax credit of 30 or 45 percent. Loans will need to have a minimum term of four years, and for any interest accumulated, no withholding tax will have to be paid on the first 15.000 euros.
Another amendment introduced is the extension of working hours through the night within the field of e-commerce, to avoid the outsourcing of thousands of jobs abroad.
