Steven Segaert Aug 29, 2012:

Grammar aside... The deducted withholding tax itself is not discharged...

The way the system works is that you pay a tax "on the spot" - in thus case the "roerende voorheffing" - which is a tax on interest gained out of investments. That is a fixed percentage, levied at the source.

Then, unless there is fraud or you make a different declaration, this tax is considered final. There will be no discussion about whether it was too little or too much - by paying it, you have fulfilled all your tax obligations.

In other words, the tax you pay discharges you of paying anything else on the same amount.

Literally, what you pay is discharging (of other taxes and of the obligation to declare).

What you might have been held to pay in the hypothesis that the calculation would be re-done (taking into account your other income, etcetera) is then "discharged".

It also works the other way (for this type of tax): if you have paid too much at the source, and don't contend it by adding details to your income tax declaration, then you lose out.

Andrew Howitt Aug 29, 2012:

discharging or discharged As I read the text, it seem to me that it has to be the past particple. It reads "if that is the case (which is not explained here), then the deducted witholding tax is discharged" i.e. that owing to the situation (geval), it is discharged. Discharging wouldn't IMO make proper grammatical sense in English

Josephine Isaacs (X) Aug 29, 2012:

discharged or discharging It seems to me that it should be discharging, otherwise it does not make sense.

See also:
...Specifically for Belgium, if such foreign interest or dividends are paid through a Belgian intermediary, they are taxed through a discharging withholding tax. If however no Belgian intermediary is involved in the payment process, the recipient has to report this income in his annual tax declaration....

http://www.bdo.be/content.aspx?lang=EN&PageId=619&TK=true

Steven Segaert Aug 28, 2012:

discharged or discharging? @Andrew - Thanks for the clarification! I'm a non-native speaker, but I answered because I understand what the "bevrijdend" is all about and found that the EU seems to use the same terminology as what I had in mind. Of course, neither the EU or myself tend to use perfect English :-).

I would like to remark though that the tax which is paid discharges the payer from doing anything else (filing further declarations or paying more - similar - tax). If we would use "discharged" in this context, it seems to me that this would imply that the tax paid is discharged in lieu of the potential tax that would be levied if nothing would be done. If you understand what I mean.

In other words, one tax is paid and discharges from further liability. Should that then not be "discharging" (or "in discharge") instead of "discharged"?