{"id":26822,"date":"2024-11-05T18:06:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T17:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/?post_type=press&p=26822"},"modified":"2026-06-09T18:07:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T16:07:04","slug":"opinion-piece-automatic-tax-fines","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/en-be\/press\/opinion-piece-automatic-tax-fines\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion piece: automatic tax fines are stifling Belgium’s entrepreneurial spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this opinion piece, Nicolas Quarr\u00e9, CEO of Accountable, is raising the alarm: a new fiscal measure that automatically penalises any error in a tax return with a 10% surcharge is creating a climate of fear for anyone looking to go self-employed in Belgium.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduced following an audit by the Court of Audit, the measure applies to individuals, the self-employed, and SMEs alike, with no distinction between good faith and bad faith. Quarr\u00e9 argues that tax legislation is so complex that even well-intentioned entrepreneurs make mistakes. This fear of failure acts as a major barrier to entrepreneurship and holds back innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He calls for a graduated penalty system that takes the severity of an error into account, paired with preventive tools such as automatic reminders, and an open dialogue with organisations including Unizo, UCM, and ITAA.<\/p>\n\n\n \n

\n \"sparkles\"\n \n
\n

Read the full opinion piece on De Tijd (Dutch)<\/a> or L’Echo (French)<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-26822","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAutomatic tax fines are stifling Belgium's entrepreneurial spirit - Accountable<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nicolas Quarr\u00e9, CEO of Accountable, is raising the alarm on a new fiscal measure that automatically penalises the self-employed in Belgium.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/en-be\/press\/opinion-piece-automatic-tax-fines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Automatic tax fines are stifling Belgium's entrepreneurial spirit - Accountable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nicolas Quarr\u00e9, CEO of Accountable, is raising the alarm on a new fiscal measure that automatically penalises the self-employed in Belgium.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/en-be\/press\/opinion-piece-automatic-tax-fines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Accountable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-09T16:07:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accountable.eu\\\/en-be\\\/press\\\/opinion-piece-automatic-tax-fines\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.accountable.eu\\\/en-be\\\/press\\\/opinion-piece-automatic-tax-fines\\\/\",\"name\":\"Automatic tax fines are stifling Belgium's entrepreneurial spirit - 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