Letter from Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), to Mr Van Peteghem, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Belgium, regarding Article 2 of the Program-Law of 22 December 2023 (amendments to the bank tax)
Date: 2024-12-13
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: banking supervision, financial stability, monetary policy

ECB-PUBLIC 

Frank Elderson  
Member of the Executive Board  

Mr Vincent Van Peteghem 

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance 

Wetstraat 12 

1000 Brussels 

BELGIUM 

[COURTESY TRANSLATION] 

Frankfurt am Main, 13 December 2024 
Contact person: Niall Lenihan 
email: Niall.Lenihan@ecb.europa.eu 
tel.: +49 69 1344 7964 

Re:  Article  2  of  the  Program-Law  of  22  December  2023  (increase  of  the  Belgian  bank  tax  and 
progressivity mechanism) 

Dear Deputy Prime Minister and Minister, 

It has come to the attention of the European Central Bank (ECB) that the Belgian legislator has adopted 

the Program-Law of 22 December 2023 (hereinafter the ‘Program-Law’) 1, which contains, among others, 

provisions amending the tax imposed on credit institutions (hereinafter the ‘Bank Tax’). The provisions of 

the Program Law amending the Bank Tax 2 entered into force on 30 December 20233. 

The ECB understands that Article 2 of the Program-Law amended Article 201/12 of the Belgian Code of 
miscellaneous duties and taxes4 by introducing a progressivity mechanism to the calculation of the Bank 

Tax.  Before  the  amendment,  there  was  only  one  rate  of  Bank  Tax,  i.e.,  0.13231%.  Following  the 

amendment, the rate of Bank Tax is: (i) 0.13231 % on the first EUR 50 billion of the taxable base amount; 

and (ii) 0.17581 % on the portion of the taxable base amount exceeding EUR 50 billion. 

The ECB understands that the current Bank Tax was introduced in its original form by the law of 3 August 

2016 introducing a new annual tax on credit institutions in replacement of existing annual taxes, corporate 

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Program-Law  of  22  December  2023  (Loi-programme  du  22  décembre  2023,  Moniteur  belge,  29  décembre 
2023/Programmawet van 22 december 2023, Belgisch Staatsblad, 29 december 2023). 
Articles 2 and 3 of the Program-Law. 
See Article 4 of the Program-Law. 

4     Code  of  miscellaneous  duties  and  taxes  (Code  des  droits  et  taxes  divers/Wetboek  diverse  rechten  en  taksen), 
previously Code of taxes assimilated to stamp (Code des taxes assimilées au timbre, Moniteur belge, 6 mars 1927/ 
Wetboek der met het zegel gelijkgestelde taksen, Belgisch Staatsblad, 6 maart 1927). 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ECB-PUBLIC 

tax deduction limitation measures and financial stability contribution measures 5, and was amended in 2021 

and 2022. The ECB also understands that prior to 2016, different types of taxes on banks already existed 6.  

The ECB appreciates that it has not identified the need to be consulted by the Belgian authorities on the 

Bank Tax before now. In this context, please be informed that the ECB has adopted a number of opinions 

on bank taxes, most recently since the end of 2022 in the wake of the increase in inflation and interest rates 

in the euro area7. In these opinions the ECB considered the relevant legislative initiatives introducing, or 

increasing, bank levies and taxes from the monetary policy, financial stability and prudential supervision 

perspectives. The ECB also adopted a number of opinions on bank and financial institution taxes before 

2022 8. 

In  accordance  with  Articles  127(4)  and  282(5)  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union, 

national authorities are required to consult the ECB on draft legislative provisions concerning matters that 

fall within its fields of competence, including the task of the European System of Central Banks to contribute 

to the smooth conduct of policies relating to the stability of the financial system pursuant to Article 127(5) 

of the Treaty, and the ECB’s tasks concerning the prudential supervision of credit institutions pursuant to 

Article 127(6) of the Treaty. 

The ECB would appreciate that the Ministry of Finance gives due consideration to the above observations 

by honouring their obligation to consult the ECB in the future on draft national legislation falling within the 

ECB’s fields of competence where appropriate. 

Yours sincerely, 

[signed] 

Cc: 

Mr P Wunsch, Governor, National Bank of Belgium 

Mr  V  Dombrovskis,  Commissioner 

for  Commissioner 

for  Economy  and  Productivity; 

Implementation and Simplification, European Commission 

Mr D Calleja Crespo, Director-General Legal Service, European Commission 

Encl. 

Guide to consultation of the ECB by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions 

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Loi du 3 août 2016 instaurant une nouvelle taxe annuelle sur les établissements de crédit en remplacement des taxes 
annuelles existantes, des mesures de limitation de déductions à l’impôt des sociétés et de la contribution à la stabilité 
financière, Moniteur belge, 11 août 2019/ Wet van 3 augustus 2016 tot invoering van een nieuwe jaarlijkse taks op de 
kredietinstellingen  in  de  plaats  van  de  bestaande  jaarlijkse  taksen,  van  de  aftrekbeperkende  maatregelen  in  de 
vennootschapsbelasting en van de bijdrage voor de financiële stabiliteit, Belgisch Staatsblad, 11 augustus 2016  
The ECB understands that a bank tax (with a more limited scope) was introduced into Belgian law for the first time by 
a royal decree of 18 November 1996, and that it was supplemented by, among others, a further bank tax introduced 
by a program-law of 22 June 2012. 
See  the  following  ECB  Opinions:  Opinion  CON/2024/35  (Latvia);  Opinion  CON/2024/4  (Slovakia);  Opinion 
CON/2023/45 (Netherlands); Opinion CON/2023/42 (Latvia); Opinion CON/2023/35 (Slovenia); Opinion CON/2023/26 
(Italy); Opinion CON/2023/9 (Lithuania); and Opinion CON/2022/36 (Spain). All ECB opinions are available on EUR-
Lex. 
See,  for  example,  the  following  ECB  Opinions:  Opinion  CON/2019/44  (Lithuania);  Opinion  CON/2019/40 
(Slovakia); Opinion CON/2016/1 (Poland); and Opinion CON/2013/44 (Cyprus). 

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