“Enough!”, say accountants and tax advisors in the face of a work climate that has “become unbearable”. Their order sets out around fifteen recommendations for the parties negotiating a government agreement. If these measures are not taken up, the profession threatens to “revolt”, according to a press release released on Tuesday.
“Our profession is going through an unprecedented crisis. Today, the level of dismay and distress among our members has reached a critical point. The working conditions imposed by the tax administration have become intolerable, leaving our professionals in a doldrums which they will only be able to get out through concrete and immediate measures,” explains the vice-president of the Order of Chartered Accountants and Tax Advisors, Emmanuel Degrève.
In a letter addressed to the presidents of the five main parties, the order requested that fifteen key demands be included in the government agreement. “If no notable improvement is undertaken from the start of the new legislature, the sector is ready to organize the first strike in its history,” threatens the order which has existed for 65 years.
Accountants and tax advisors are asking, among other things, for more efficiency and direct relations with the administration. They also plead for administrative simplification and improved accessibility of administrative platforms outside office hours. They also demand that autonomous advance ruling and conciliation services be reestablished. They also recommend that zero tolerance disappear in favor of a “reasoned application of sanctions”.
The order also wishes to recall “its essential role for healthy taxation and an efficient Treasury. Our members are the cogs of the Belgian tax system: it is imperative to listen to them”.
The order’s demands “are not whims: they are essential requirements to establish a relationship of trust and mutual respect”, the press release ends.
