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AdSense : Paying taxes in Belgium.

Can anyone help?

         

brian_mc_d

5:56 am on Feb 10, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Hi,

I currently live (and pay taxes) in Belgium. I am an individual and I want to know how to declare my AdSense revenues.

I would appreciate your help.

Brian.

arrowman

5:59 pm on Feb 10, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I live in the Netherlands and our 'belastingdienst' (IRS) - believe it or not - has a website! Is there no such thing in Belgium?

Anyway, my guess would be 'inkomsten' (income) in the 'personenbelasting' (personal taxes).

brian_mc_d

9:23 pm on Feb 10, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Hi!

There is a web site here too, but there is no specific mention of any "internet related" activities. Do you have specifics in the Netherlands?

From what I can gather, I am tempted to do as you say : add the AdSense income to the general income of the individual tax statement. Easy.

But I want to know if this is correct. I want to know if it's ok if I don't declare myself as a self-employed or if I don't start a company.

Brian.

RonPK

10:39 pm on Feb 10, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Rule of thumb would be

income = income + Adsense dollars * exchange rate - expenses to cash the cheques

I don't want to be short, but IMHO tax advice for your personal situation is beyond the scope of this forum. But I think it's up to the tax department to decide whether you're an entrepreneur or just an ordinary person.

level80

12:12 am on Feb 11, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



My advice:-

Work out three figures that you'll need over a financial year (or whatever year you use to account with):-

Turnover (this is all income from Adsense + other advertising if you have it, other self-employed income if you have it etc)

Overheads (for running a website these would be things like web hosting fees, domain registration fees, electricity you use, bank fees for foreign currency cheques etc etc)

Profit = Turnover - Overheads

Then get in touch with the local Belgium tax authorities and ask them for their advice (look up number in phone book or find out their website address).

arrowman

1:14 am on Feb 11, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



There is a web site here too, but there is no specific mention of any "internet related" activities. Do you have specifics in the Netherlands?

There's also no specific mention of hamburger related activities (not to mention Vlaamse frieten). Remember, it's income tax, not hamburger tax :-)

brian_mc_d

8:20 am on Feb 11, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Thank you for your comments!

I am reluctant to call my administration ; that's why I asked my question here - just in case anyone knew what to do. But I will pick up my phone then...

I agree it is beyond the scope of this forum, but it is the only forum I know where people actually do try to help each other ; so, thanks again!

Cheers.

koen

3:36 pm on Feb 11, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Hey, I would appreciate it if you post back here after you got the information. I searched google and found nothing. Also I don't won't to start my own company (or in 'bij beroep') just for a few bucks.

brian_mc_d

6:48 pm on Feb 15, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Well, I got an answer from someone in my company (tax specialist) and it is in line with what I found on the official sites of the tax administration.

Two options :

1. If revenue is occasional and not linked to a professional activity : simply declare revenues as a physical person in "revenus divers / diverse inkomsten". You cannot substract expenses (except money to cash the check in the bank). I don't know what papers you must add to the declaration to "prove" the revenues and costs though.

2. If revenue is recurrent and linked to a professional activity : you must declare yourself a worker (zelfstandig / independant). In this case of course, all expenses (web hosting, computer, and so on) can be taken into account. As I don't fall into this category myself, I don't know much more.

To determine in which of the two cases you fall, it is really up to each individual case ; the guy told me there was no clear rule...

Hope it helps, if something here is incorrect, please let me know!

foxtunes

8:20 pm on Feb 15, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



"....Overheads (for running a website these would be things like web hosting fees, domain registration fees, electricity you use, bank fees for foreign currency cheques etc etc)...."

Yes....As long you keep all receipts I'd also claim expenses for advertising, web directory listings, web site research, hiring folks to write articles, webmasterworld membership :)

There are many legitimate internet related expenses to claim for, that the tax man would rather you overlooked.