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Since the rise of distance selling companies from 2015, which was accentuated with the coronavirus crisis, the VAT system was not at all adapted to the ways of doing business nowadays.
In July 2021, New VAT rules have been implemented by the European commission. These rules apply to all member state of Europe and have been implemented in order to achieve diverse goals such as the reduction of fraud, the end of unfair competition and the simplification of administrative formalities.
VAT fraud was a recurrent problem that caused heavy financial losses to all countries. According to a recent report published by the European Commission, EU member states experienced an estimated loss of 134 billion euros in value added tax revenue in 2019. Also, some of the rules needed to be redefined because it was leading to a legal loophole preventing companies from expanding internationally, which was obviously not the goal. Indeed, it gave a considerable advantage to companies located outside of the European Union and this led to unfair competition. Moreover, the administrative procedures were tedious and complex.
In a world in perpetual evolution and with the digitalization of the exchanges, these modifications were crucial and necessary. Through this work I tried to understand the impact of these changes on the different actors of distance selling, in particular the companies of remote sales and I also wanted to check if all the initial objectives had been met.
Through interviews, studies, and surveys, it has been possible to check the implications of the VAT package. The European Commission's survey on the evaluation of the new VAT rules after 6 months of application has revealed that all objectives have been successfully achieved. The analysis of the interviews revealed that the communication around these rules was not managed in an optimal way. The first few months after its implementation were complicated. It also emerged from the interview of the two dropshipping companies that it was difficult to find reliable sources of information. However, they both showed a particular interest in these rules.
Finally, it is clear that there are still some grey areas. However, it has already improved and further changes may be made in the near future thanks to the VAT in the digital Edge initiative.

TVA --- Vente à distance --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Comptabilité & audit

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Le projet vise à comprendre la faisabilité de créer un réseau d'établissements dans les Ardennes belges pour accueillir les cyclistes et randonneurs. Il cherche à offrir une expérience client complète, combinant des activités de plein air avec une offre culinaire saine et de qualité, adaptée aux saisons et aux préférences des visiteurs.

Sciences économiques & de gestion > Multidisciplinaire, généralités & autres

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Nowadays, insurers are conveyed by two main legislations, namely the European Directive “Solvency II” and the standard IFRS 4 “Insurance contracts” phase II. Needless to say that the purpose of those two is to provide a one-track framework for insurance companies which accounting measurement principle is unique. However, those regulations have also specific different accounting and financial rules. As a consequence, insurers have decided to give the challenge of convergence a go. In this respect, this paper will first contribute to a description of both legislations with a main focus on the valuation of insurance liabilities. In order to do meet any convergence, we will in fact draw the major similarities between the European Directive “Solvency II” and the final standard IFRS 4 “Insurance contracts”. The second part of the thesis will be devoted to several analysis lead to answer the three following hypothesis:
- Hypothesis 1: “Solvency II” can be capitalised for the implementation of IFRS 4 “Insurance contracts” phase II.
- Hypothesis 2: The costs engendered by the two legislations worth the benefits they can bring.
- Hypothesis 3: The impacts produced by the two regulations differ according to the size of the insurance company.
The panel questioned will consist of the seven market leaders, according to the life technical provisions. Interviews will be lead with financial experts who respectively represent either the European Directive or the standard IFRS. Those exchanges will serve as a basis to tackle the different impacts endured by the insurance companies as well as to suggest capitalisation leads.
To conclude, we will figure out first that the enforcement of “Solvency II” was really demanding at the following levels: human, operational and financial. Afterwards, capitalisation tracks actually exist but in addition of the complexity of such an implementation, as the final standard IFRS 4 “Insurance contracts” has not come out yet most of the insurers have not started this process neither.

IFRS 4 - Solvabilité - passifs d'assurances - provisions techniques --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Comptabilité & audit

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Our society is evolving faster than ever and is facing an important transformation. When trying to account for this changeover, two main elements surface. Firstly, the demographic growth is a worldwide and constant phenomenon. Secondly, citizens have been moving to urban areas, following the process of urbanization. However, more than half of the world’s population lives in cities which cannot extend. Europe and Belgium are particularly concerned with this issue, as respectively 70 % and 98 % of their population lives in urban areas. 

These rapid changes entail a number of new challenges in various domains, such as education, mobility, environment, natural resources management, safety, culture, urban development and housing. Therefore, the concept of Smart Cities has appeared as the best-suited long-term strategy aiming to face these challenges. Its main goals are to improve citizens’ quality of life and provide a sustainable development of urban ecosystems. 

This master’s thesis, entitled « What are the main challenges of financing Smart City projects? », analyses what financing models are used in Belgium for Smart City projects, what the main obstacles are to their funding, and finally, what solutions should be implemented to facilitate the investment and the development of such projects. 

After clarifying various theoretical aspects, we will elaborate on the topic through interviews with actors and specialists involved in developing Smart City projects from both private and public sectors, in order to draw a comparison between the theoretical and the practical aspects. 

The analysis of theoretical and practical fields has brought two challenges to light. On the one hand, the high need of capital is perceived for the achievement of Smart Cities, while private and public sectors both have limited budgets. On the other hand, there is a lack of expertise and general knowledge on the matter, which results in the risky and complex completion of Smart City projects. In addition, a lack of long-term strategy and consulting between actors has been identified.

Smart City --- Financement --- Barrières --- Urbanisation --- Croissance démographique --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Comptabilité & audit

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In 2013, the Belgian government decided to increase the withholding tax on liquidation surpluses from 10% to 25%. This increase penalizes especially shareholders of smaller companies who expected to distribute the profits accumulated over years as pension complement at a relatively low tax rate in the future. The government decided in 2014 to insert the regime of the ordinary liquidation reserve. This regime allows the distribution of current and future profits at the low tax rate of 10% in case of a future liquidation. Neither the transitional regime inserted in 2013 nor the regime of the ordinary liquidation reserve allows the distribution of profits of the years related to the taxation years 2013 and 2014 at the low tax rate of 10% in case of a future liquidation. That is why the government inserted the regime of the special liquidation reserve in 2015. In fact, this regime allows the distribution of profits related to these years at the low tax rate of 10%. In this thesis, we analyze what these two regimes mean in reality to a company and her shareholders and if it is interesting to constitute an ordinary or a special liquidation reserve.

Liquidation --- Reserve --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Comptabilité & audit --- Droit, criminologie & sciences politiques > Droit fiscal