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Where do I go to obtain Banque-carrefour + attestation d'affiliation aux lois sociales?
The commune and an inspector at the local police station have given me notification that despite proving my tax status in the UK and my income, I still have to produce "banque-carrefour + attestation d'affiliation aux lois sociales".
Unfortunately my French isn't fantastic and the English of the inspector and commune official were equally poor so it's not clear what this means.
Can someone please advise me where I should go? If i don't produce this by 24th July i'll be forced to leave Belgium.
Any advice on how to proceed here is appreciated, so here's my status: I live and work here in Brussels, but have my own limited company registered in the UK. The Belgian company where i work pays an intermediary UK company in Euros, who pays my limited company in pounds.
When i need money, i just pay myself out of my UK company by transferring funds from my UK business account to my Belgian personal account.
As far as i can tell, the tax and money situation were accepted, it's just that i need whatever these things detailed above.
Thanks in advance.
are you registered here?
Are you member of a Belgian mutualité? or are you using your ECHIC card ...not legal if you live here.
Where do you pay your taxes? (as of annual 181 days/ per anno in Belgium it's in BE!)
What you are doing is illegal. You are living in Belgium, and are therefore liable for tax here. You need to be operating under Belgian rules.
You need to contact a Belgian accountant who deals with contractors. Ask a few colleagues for recommendations.
The accountant will help you get legal.
You MUST get an accountant, because if you don't get legal, the Belgian tax man will "assess" your tax liability. This is a process whereby they make a rough guess of what they think you might owe in tax and double it, and you have 4 weeks to appeal. If this happens, you will also need an accountant to minimise the damage.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Agree totally with J on this. Your set up (at least in the way you've described it) is illegal.
"it's just that i need whatever these things detailed above." The only way you can have "these things", is by being legally set up in Belgium and being affiliated to a mutuelle.
Get an accountant now (who may just be able to sort you out), or prepare to move back to the U.K.
In any case, staying here will involve paying taxes and social security contributions on your earnings since you've been here, so it may work out better for you to leave anyway.
Oh and you may want to go and take a look at the advice that was given to you 6 months ago here:
http://www.xpats.com/uk-based-self-employed-working-and-living-brussels
I recon ignoring the advice to get an accountant that you got in January is going to cost you in the region of €20,000.
If you ignore it for much longer, look at trippling that, even with a move back to the UK.
you could try approaching the company who are employing your company and ask HR who deals with tax some companies employ outside agencies to assist xpats. Otherwise quickly seek professional advice on this rather than asking people who don't understand how you are registered or working here presently on a Q&A page this approach is not ideal. Tax here is very high and complex and if they think your aren't paying tax where you live they expect that you had some agreement in place before you commenced working and living here. You say you reside here but its unclear if you were here already and set up this company to avoid tax or came and have now realised the tax system isn't straight forwards not least as you done speak the same language as your local tax person.
"Unfortunately my French isn't fantastic and the English of the inspector and commune official were equally poor so it's not clear what this means."
Hmm, police involved already. What it means is that you have been "sussed" but they are giving you the opportunity to prove that it was all a misunderstanding which you can put right by paying a (big) penalty and all the back tax, etc., that you owe. It is quite possible (I have been quite impressed by how bright the Belgian police can be, particularly when compared with the average UK "plod"), that they have already read your January posts here which come as close to a blatant admission of a tax evasion scheme as I have seen in a long while (and blaming it all on your UK accountant isn't going to work either).
Find yourself a good Belgian accountant now, plenty (especially Dutch-speaking ones) speak good English, and work out quickly how you can create a damage limitation exercise - it is going to be costly whatever you do. Don't think that running back to the UK will help you, tax evasion is a criminal offence and a European arrest warrant will soon have you back in Belgium - and probably deprived of your liberty so that you can't do a runner again.
> try approaching the company who are employing your company
No way - keep them out of it - you do NOT want to let them know that you've got tax or legal problems - that could scare them into terminating your contract...
Someone else will correct me if I'm wrong but it also sounds like they think you are not paying social security here - you should be a member of a mutuelle as a EHIC is only for visitors, even if your tax status is correct (and I believe any UK based income should be included on a Belgian tax form of some sort even if it is 'tax paid', and they sort out any additional liability you have here)
first check you company tva number on this website https://kbopub.economie.fgov.be/kbopub/zoekwoordenform.html?lang=en
if this website show your name as director or whatever than this is your bankcarefour.
for lois social you have to go to an office like PARTENA, there you have to make an incription when registration is completed there they will send you some documents on home address which you have to sign and send them back. when they recived that documents and every thing is fine with them then they will send and attestation to your commune which is lois social.
