If you, as a tax subject, receive a visit from an auditor, you must allow him to look through your books and records if he asks to do so.
What about electronic data?
These days, tax subjects often keep such documents on a computer or server. Such electronically-stored documents may today already be inspected by tax officials.
Inspection in the cloud
In order to also harmonise the right of inspection of the officials with this evolution, the Programme Law of 1 July 2016 amended article 315(b) of the 1992 Income Tax Code – which regulates the right of inspection – by adding that the obligations set forth in this article (= preserve the documents and allow them to be inspected) also apply when the data that the administration requests exist digitally in Belgium or abroad. In other words, the auditor can also inspect data in the cloud.
A similar adaptation was made in the VAT Code so that the VAT officials receive the same power as well.
Starting when?
The new measure applies as of 14 July 2016