One of the most eye-catching measures is the introduction of a 10% ‘solidarity contribution’ on capital gains realised in the future on financial assets (including crypto), to start accruing from the moment the measure is introduced.

Historical capital gains are thus exempt. The value of your financial assets is likely to be ‘pegged’ to the price/asset value applying at the time the measure takes effect. Only capital gains arising from this date (at the earliest?) are likely to be subject to the measure. Gains accrued in the past will escape the contribution. There is therefore no need to sell investments on which you have already made a capital gain.

Only realised capital gains are subject to the contribution. Thus, the fact that the value of an investment has increased during a taxable period is not a reason for it to be taxed.

An annual basic exemption of 10 000 euros (indexed) per taxpayer will apply. Only realised capital gains exceeding this amount of 10 000 euros will be subject to the solidarity contribution.

The coalition agreement provides for deductibility of capital losses realised within the same year and not carried forward to subsequent calendar years.

The practical effect of the measure will ultimately have to made clear in the legal text. For example, it is not clear at present how capital gains will be calculated if you have bought shares at different times, and wish to sell some of those shares.

Contrary to earlier reports, the annual tax on custody accounts will not be adjusted. This tax is payable annually on custody accounts in which the average value of taxable financial instruments exceeds 1 000 000 euros during the reference period. The rate is to be kept at 0.15%.

The government will, however, look at ways to tackle evasion of the annual tax on custody accounts, based on recommendations from the State Audit Office.

The tax on stock market transactions is to be modernised and simplified. The intention seems to be to subject similar investment funds/trackers to a similar rate of stock market tax. Accounting and administrative obligations for IPOs are to be reduced and overregulation avoided.

Capital gains tax will be introduced at the rate of 10% on capital gains realised in the future on financial assets. Here we look in more detail at capital gains realised on the disposal of shares of companies in which you hold a substantial interest.

Scope
The measures target capital gains on shares of both listed and unlisted companies insofar as the shares are deemed to constitute a substantial interest on the part of the shareholder. For the purposes of this measure, holding a stake of at least 20% is considered to be a substantial interest.

The agreement does not specify whether this measure applies solely to direct shareholdings or whether it also includes indirect shareholdings (e.g., through a management company). It is also unclear whether partners' holdings – whether or not covered by, say, the matrimonial property regime – are to included.

The rates
The amount of the solidarity contribution payable depends on the size of the capital gain and is based on a sliding scale:

Tax base
In determining the tax base, capital gains may be reduced by offsetting capital losses or losses that are deductible within the same income category if they are realised within the same calendar year. Capital losses or losses realised in the past are not eligible for deduction.

Effective date
This too would constitute a non-retroactive tax. Only the increases in the capital gain accrued from the moment that the measure is introduced are in scope. There is a question regarding how the value of unlisted companies will be determined on the day that the measure enters into force. Should you consult an auditor about this? Should you assume a flat-rate valuation (e.g., the (adjusted) equity value?). This will become clearer in due course.

In principle, dividends received by a company are taxable at standard corporation tax rates. Since tax on this income has already been paid by the distributing company, provided the valuation, holding period and holding size conditions are met, this dividend income will be exempt for the receiving company (the ‘dividends received deduction’, or DRD allowance).

At present, the holding size condition means that the company receiving the dividends must hold a participating interest in the distributing company of at least 10% or with an acquisition value of at least 2 500 000 euros. The coalition agreement states that, in the future, large companies will be eligible for the DRD allowance if they hold an (unchanged) stake of 10% of the shares of the distributing company, or shares with an acquisition value of at least 4 million euros. Moreover, this stricter holding size condition would be linked to the condition that the participating interest must take the form of financial fixed assets. The company aims to have a long-term relationship with the company in which it invests and therefore does not regard the investment purely as a financial investment. However, this stricter condition applies only for and between large companies.

For the purposes of this measure, a large company means a company that had an average workforce of more than 250 FTEs in at least two of the last three completed taxable periods and annual turnover of at least 50 million euros (excluding VAT) or a balance sheet total of at least 43 million euros.

We note that these modified DRD conditions will also apply for the exemption of capital gains on shares from corporation tax.

Using a DRD Bevek (open-ended investment company) allows companies to invest in share funds in a tax-efficient manner. Capital gains realised by a company on shares in a DRD Bevek are currently exempt on the basis of the ‘DRD coefficient’. Under the coalition agreement, this would be abolished and replaced by a 5% levy on capital gains on ‘exit’, a less favourable but still tax-efficient regime. Although not made clear, it is likely that historical gains accumulated before the new legislation comes into force will be unaffected. In fact, the government has given a commitment not to introduce retroactive tax measures.

In addition, offsetting withholding tax against corporation tax would only be possible on dividends received from a DRD Bevek to the extent that the receiving company has paid the minimum remuneration for company managers (henceforth 50 000 euros, index-linked) in the income year in which it receives dividends from the DRD Bevek.

Dividend payments are subject to 30% withholding tax as standard. Using the VVPRbis tax reduction scheme and liquidation reserves, this tax burden can be reduced provided certain conditions are met:

• Under the VVPRbis scheme, dividends can be distributed from the third financial year following the financial year of the company’s incorporation (or capital increase), with withholding tax being applied at a rate of 15%.
• Using liquidation reserves, an additional 10% corporation tax is payable on the amount of the reserve at the time of its formation. After a waiting period of five years, dividends can be distributed at a withholding tax rate of 5%.
  

The total tax burden on distribution amounts to 13.64%.

Under the coalition agreement, the waiting time for liquidation reserves is reduced, but the overall tax burden is slightly higher. This is because VVPRbis and liquidation reserves are being harmonised as far as possible. It means that the effective tax burden on liquidation reserves is increased to 15% (rather than 13.64%) and the waiting period is reduced to three years (instead of five years). Specifically, this means that, from January 2026, the 5% withholding tax rate on distribution of dividends will be increased to 6.5% for newly created liquidation reserves.

Please note that:

• dividend distributions made within the three-year waiting period will be taxed at the standard withholding tax rate of 30% (instead of the 20% currently applied to distributions within the waiting period)
• the possibility of offsetting using liquidation reserves at the rate of 10% (or in reality 9.09%) seems set to remain.
  

The standard corporation tax rate is 25%. If your company meets all of a number of conditions, it can benefit from the reduced corporation tax rate of 20% on the first 100 000 euros of profit.
One of the conditions is the awarding of a minimum remuneration for company managers. The government is raising this minimum remuneration from 45 000 euros to 50 000 euros (with annual indexation).

In addition, up to 20% of your annual gross pay may consist of benefits in kind.