Doing Business 2018 Belgium Economy Pro le of Belgium Doing Business 2018 Indicators (in order of appearance in the document) Starting a business Procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital to start a limited liability company Dealing with construction Procedures, time and cost to complete all formalities to build a warehouse and the quality control and permits safety mechanisms in the construction permitting system Getting electricity Procedures, time and cost to get connected to the electrical grid, the reliability of the electricity supply and the transparency of tariffs Registering property Procedures, time and cost to transfer a property and the quality of the land administration system Getting credit Movable collateral laws and credit information systems Protecting minority investors Minority shareholders’ rights in related-party transactions and in corporate governance Paying taxes Payments, time and total tax rate for a firm to comply with all tax regulations as well as post-filing processes Trading across borders Time and cost to export the product of comparative advantage and import auto parts Enforcing contracts Time and cost to resolve a commercial dispute and the quality of judicial processes Resolving insolvency Time, cost, outcome and recovery rate for a commercial insolvency and the strength of the legal framework for insolvency Labor market regulation Flexibility in employment regulation and aspects of job quality About Doing Business The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. Doing Business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local rms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation. Although Doing Business does not present rankings of economies on the labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does present the data for these indicators. By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more e cient regulation; o ers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy. In addition, Doing Business o ers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in di erent cities and regions within a nation. These reports provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that Doing Business has ranked. The rst Doing Business report, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s report covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business, also collected data for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has bene ted from feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business around the world. Page 2   for insolvency Doing Business Labor market 2018 regulation Belgium Flexibility in employment regulation and aspects of job quality About Doing Business The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. Doing Business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local rms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation. Although Doing Business does not present rankings of economies on the labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does present the data for these indicators. By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more e cient regulation; o ers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy. In addition, Doing Business o ers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in di erent cities and regions within a nation. These reports provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that Doing Business has ranked. The rst Doing Business report, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s report covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business, also collected data for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has bene ted from feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business around the world. The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the “frontier,” which represents the best performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005. An economy’s distance to frontier is re ected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 represents the frontier. The ease of doing business ranking ranges from 1 to 190. The ranking of 190 economies is determined by sorting the aggregate distance to frontier scores, rounded to two decimals. More about Doing Business (PDF, 5MB) Ease of Doing Business in Region OECD high income DB 2018 Rank 190 1 Belgium Income Category High income 52 Population 11,348,159 DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) GNI Per Capita (US$) 41,860 0 100 71.69 City Covered Brussels DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 82.22: United Kingdom (Rank: 7) 79.00: Germany (Rank: 20) 77.46: Regional Average (OECD high income) 76.13: France (Rank: 31) Page 3   76.03: Netherlands (Rank: 32) aggregate distance to frontier scores, rounded to two decimals. More Doingabout 2018 (PDF, Doing Business Business 5MB) Belgium Ease of Doing Business in Region OECD high income DB 2018 Rank 190 1 Belgium Income Category High income 52 Population 11,348,159 DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) GNI Per Capita (US$) 41,860 0 100 71.69 City Covered Brussels DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 82.22: United Kingdom (Rank: 7) 79.00: Germany (Rank: 20) 77.46: Regional Average (OECD high income) 76.13: France (Rank: 31) 76.03: Netherlands (Rank: 32) 71.69: Belgium (Rank: 52) Note: The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the “frontier,” which represents the best performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005. An economy’s distance to frontier is re ected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 represents the frontier. The ease of doing business ranking ranges from 1 to 190. Rankings on Doing Business topics - Belgium 1 1 11 16 28 39 52 57 59 55 82 Rank 103 105 109 138 136 163 190 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Investors Borders Permits Distance to Frontier (DTF) on Doing Business topics - Belgium 100.00 100 94.43 81.46 75.36 77.69 80 67.30 64.25 60.00 60 DTF 51.40 45.00 40 20 0 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Change:+0.01 Change:-0.03 Change:0.00 Investors Change:+0.63 Borders Change:0.00 Change:-2.86 Change:-0.06 Permits Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Change:+0.02 Page 4   Starting a Business a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Change:+0.01 Change:-0.03 Change:0.00 Investors Change:+0.63 Borders Change:0.00 Change:-2.86 Change:-0.06 Permits Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Doing Business 2018 Belgium Change:+0.02 Starting a Business This topic measures the paid-in minimum capital requirement, number of procedures, time and cost for a small- to medium-sized limited liability company to start up and formally operate in economy’s largest business city. To make the data comparable across 190 economies, Doing Business uses a standardized business that is 100% domestically owned, has start-up capital equivalent to 10 times income per capita, engages in general industrial or commercial activities and employs between 10 and 50 people one month after the commencement of operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. Starting a Business considers two types of local limited liability companies that are identical in all aspects, except that one company is owned by 5 married women and the other by 5 married men. The distance to frontier score for each indicator is the average of the scores obtained for each of the component indicators. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally start and operate a To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions company (number) about the business and the procedures are used. It is assumed that any required information is readily available and that the entrepreneur will pay Pre-registration (for example, name verification no bribes. or reservation, notarization) Registration in economy’s largest business city The business: - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). If there is more than Post-registration (for example, social security one type of limited liability company in the economy, the most common registration, company seal) among domestic rms is chosen. Information on the most common form is Obtaining approval from spouse to start business obtained from incorporation lawyers or the statistical o ce. or leave home to register company - Operates in the economy’s largest business city and the entire o ce Obtaining any gender-specific permission that space is approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet). For 11 can impact company registration, company economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. operations and process of getting national - Is 100% domestically owned and has ve owners, none of whom is a legal identity card entity; and has a start-up capital of 10 times income per capita and has a Time required to complete each procedure turnover of at least 100 times income per capita. (calendar days) - Performs general industrial or commercial activities, such as the production or sale of goods or services to the public. The business does Does not include time spent gathering not perform foreign trade activities and does not handle products subject information to a special tax regime, for example, liquor or tobacco. It does not use Each procedure starts on a separate day (2 heavily polluting production processes. procedures cannot start on the same day) - Leases the commercial plant or o ces and is not a proprietor of real Procedures fully completed online are recorded estate and the amount of the annual lease for the o ce space is equivalent as ½ day to 1 times income per capita. Procedure is considered completed once final - Does not qualify for investment incentives or any special bene ts. document is received - Has at least 10 and up to 50 employees one month after the commencement of operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. No prior contact with officials - Has a company deed 10 pages long. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of The owners: income per capita) - Have reached the legal age of majority. If there is no legal age of majority, Official costs only, no bribes they are assumed to be 30 years old. No professional fees unless services required by - Are sane, competent, in good health and have no criminal record. law or commonly used in practice - Are married and the marriage is monogamous and registered with the authorities. Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) - Where the answer di ers according to the legal system applicable to the Funds deposited in a bank or with third party woman or man in question (as may be the case in economies where there before registration or up to 3 months after is legal plurality), the answer used will be the one that applies to the incorporation majority of the population. Standardized Company Page 5   before registration or up to 3 months after is legal plurality), the answer used will be the one that applies to the incorporation majority of the population. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Standardized Company Legal form Société privée à responsabilité limité/besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid (SPRL/BVBA) Paid-in minimum capital EUR 6,200 requirement City Covered Brussels OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Procedure – Men (number) 3 4.9 4.9 1.00 (New Zealand) Time – Men (days) 4 8.5 8.5 0.50 (New Zealand) Cost – Men (% of income per capita) 5.6 3.1 3.1 0.00 (United Kingdom) Procedure – Women (number) 3 4.9 4.9 1.00 (New Zealand) Time – Women (days) 4 8.5 8.5 0.50 (New Zealand) Cost – Women (% of income per capita) 5.6 3.1 3.1 0.00 (United Kingdom) Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita) 16.8 8.7 8.7 0.00 (113 Economies) Figure – Starting a Business in Belgium and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 94.58: United Kingdom (Rank: 14) 94.43: Belgium (Rank: 16) 94.28: Netherlands (Rank: 20) 93.28: France (Rank: 25) 91.35: Regional Average (OECD high income) 83.46: Germany (Rank: 113) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Starting a Business in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 4 6 3.5 5 f income per capita) 3 4 2.5 Time (days) 2 3 Page 6   starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Figure – Starting a Business in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 4 6 3.5 5 Cost (% of income per capita) 3 4 2.5 Time (days) 2 3 1.5 2 1 1 0.5 0 0 1 2 3 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Details – Starting a Business in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Deposit at least 20% of the initial capital with a Belgian credit 1 day no charge institution and obtain a standard certi cation con rming that the amount is held in a blocked “capital” account Agency : Commercial Bank The full amount of capital must be fully and unconditionally subscribed, but it does not have to be immediately paid in unless the capital contribution is fully in kind. However, by law, a fth of the total capital paid-in cash must be paid in. For those private limited liability companies incorporated by only one shareholder, the amount of the capital to be paid in is EUR 12,400. In some cases, the paid-in and minimum capital can be reduced to EUR 1. Indeed, the Belgian legislation allows, when certain conditions are present, to set-up a limited liability company (called SPRL Starter /BVBA Starter) without the minimum capital and paid-in capital of the SPRL/BVBA (article 214, §2 Company). However, this does not apply to the case study. 2 Deposit a nancial plan with the notary, sign the deed of incorporation 1 day Fixed registration and the by-laws in the presence of a notary, who authenticates the duty of EUR 50 + documents and registers the deed of incorporation Registration duty on Agency : Notary O ce written documents of EUR 95 + The incorporation deed (which includes the initial version of the bylaws) publication cost of must be drawn up in French or Dutch if done within Brussels. The required EUR 218,41 content is outlined in Articles 69 and 226 of the Company Code. The incorporation deed will then be signed by the founders and the notary. (electronical filing) or Page 7   EUR 270,44 (paper When the deed is signed it can only be done in person. (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Starting a Business in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Deposit at least 20% of the initial capital with a Belgian credit 1 day no charge institution and obtain a standard certi cation con rming that the amount is held in a blocked “capital” account Agency : Commercial Bank The full amount of capital must be fully and unconditionally subscribed, but it does not have to be immediately paid in unless the capital contribution is fully in kind. However, by law, a fth of the total capital paid-in cash must be paid in. For those private limited liability companies incorporated by only one shareholder, the amount of the capital to be paid in is EUR 12,400. In some cases, the paid-in and minimum capital can be reduced to EUR 1. Indeed, the Belgian legislation allows, when certain conditions are present, to set-up a limited liability company (called SPRL Starter /BVBA Starter) without the minimum capital and paid-in capital of the SPRL/BVBA (article 214, §2 Company). However, this does not apply to the case study. 2 Deposit a nancial plan with the notary, sign the deed of incorporation 1 day Fixed registration and the by-laws in the presence of a notary, who authenticates the duty of EUR 50 + documents and registers the deed of incorporation Registration duty on Agency : Notary O ce written documents of EUR 95 + The incorporation deed (which includes the initial version of the bylaws) publication cost of must be drawn up in French or Dutch if done within Brussels. The required EUR 218,41 content is outlined in Articles 69 and 226 of the Company Code. The incorporation deed will then be signed by the founders and the notary. (electronical filing) or When the deed is signed it can only be done in person. EUR 270,44 (paper filing) + Notary fees The requirements are: around EUR 1,053 + 1) Evidence of the deposit of initial capital, notary's various 2) Financial plan. The nancial plan describes and justi es the amount of costs (including file initial capital. The plan must show that the initial capital will cover company and administrative operations for at least the rst 2 years. The founders sign the plan and costs) of about EUR deposit it in the notary public’s custody before incorporation. 500 + VAT 3) Personal information from founders. Companies later have the option of ling and completing registration online with the notary or in person at the One Stop Shop. If the company has opted for the "online” procedure, then notary will proceed to electronically le the documents through the online site (www.e- notariat.be), which is only accessible to notaries. The e-notariat system (e- depot project) allows notaries to electronically le the deed of incorporation with the various data banks (Tax, VAT and Social Security), and to obtain the enterprise number of the company. Even though the company is able to obtain the enterprise company number this way it must still visit the OSS in order to activate the number. For the notary fees, the following formula shall apply: - For the range of capital EUR 0 - 37,000 [= max EUR 37,000], the rate is 0.570% Page 8   minimum capital and paid-in capital of the SPRL/BVBA (article 214, §2 BusinessHowever, Doing Company). this does not apply to the case study. 2018 Belgium 2 Deposit a nancial plan with the notary, sign the deed of incorporation 1 day Fixed registration and the by-laws in the presence of a notary, who authenticates the duty of EUR 50 + documents and registers the deed of incorporation Registration duty on Agency : Notary O ce written documents of EUR 95 + The incorporation deed (which includes the initial version of the bylaws) publication cost of must be drawn up in French or Dutch if done within Brussels. The required EUR 218,41 content is outlined in Articles 69 and 226 of the Company Code. The incorporation deed will then be signed by the founders and the notary. (electronical filing) or When the deed is signed it can only be done in person. EUR 270,44 (paper filing) + Notary fees The requirements are: around EUR 1,053 + 1) Evidence of the deposit of initial capital, notary's various 2) Financial plan. The nancial plan describes and justi es the amount of costs (including file initial capital. The plan must show that the initial capital will cover company and administrative operations for at least the rst 2 years. The founders sign the plan and costs) of about EUR deposit it in the notary public’s custody before incorporation. 500 + VAT 3) Personal information from founders. Companies later have the option of ling and completing registration online with the notary or in person at the One Stop Shop. If the company has opted for the "online” procedure, then notary will proceed to electronically le the documents through the online site (www.e- notariat.be), which is only accessible to notaries. The e-notariat system (e- depot project) allows notaries to electronically le the deed of incorporation with the various data banks (Tax, VAT and Social Security), and to obtain the enterprise number of the company. Even though the company is able to obtain the enterprise company number this way it must still visit the OSS in order to activate the number. For the notary fees, the following formula shall apply: - For the range of capital EUR 0 - 37,000 [= max EUR 37,000], the rate is 0.570% - For the range of capital EUR 37,001 – 99,000 [= max EUR 62,000], the rate is 0.399% - For the range of capital EUR 99,001 – 224,000 [= max EUR 125,000], the rate is 0.285% - For the range of capital EUR 224,001 – 534,000 [= max EUR 310,000], the rate is 0.171% - For the range of capital EUR 534,001 – 1,784,000 [= max EUR 1,250,000], the rate is 0.057% - For the range of capital EUR 1,784,001 – 3,333,500 [= max EUR 1,549,500], the rate is 0.0228% For the surplus, the rate is 0.0114%. 3 Register with the Register of Legal Entities, VAT, and social security at a 2 days (1 day for EUR 85.5 centralized company docket (guichet-entreprises / ondernemingsloket) commercial (registration fee) + and obtain a company number registration, 1 day EUR 55 (VAT Agency : One-Stop Shop Register for social security registration) and VAT) The registration with the trade registries (one or several) and the social security authorities is centralized. After the ling of the deed of incorporation, the clerk's o ce will Page 9   automatically register the company with the Register of Legal Entities, which Doing For the surplus, Business 2018 the rate is 0.0114%. Belgium 3 Register with the Register of Legal Entities, VAT, and social security at a 2 days (1 day for EUR 85.5 centralized company docket (guichet-entreprises / ondernemingsloket) commercial (registration fee) + and obtain a company number registration, 1 day EUR 55 (VAT Agency : One-Stop Shop Register for social security registration) and VAT) The registration with the trade registries (one or several) and the social security authorities is centralized. After the ling of the deed of incorporation, the clerk's o ce will automatically register the company with the Register of Legal Entities, which is part of the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises. The company will be given a single identi cation number, the enterprise number (numéro d'entreprise, or ondernemingsnummer), which can be activated only by using a recognized one-stop shop (guichets d'entreprises or ondernemingsloketten). Based on the number of employees, the projected annual turnover, and the shareholder class (private individuals), the company will qualify as a small- or medium-size enterprise (SME) according to the meaning of the Promotion of Independent Enterprise (General Provisions) Act of February 10, 1998. For a small or medium-size enterprise, activation of the company's registration with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (as referred to above) will be possible only once a certi cate of competence has been obtained. The person in charge of daily company management must evidence his knowledge of business management with documentary proof of education (diplomas, etc.) or practical experience. The company may request the VAT registration number either directly from the local VAT administration or through the centralized company docket, which can apply for the VAT registration number electronically (but in both cases, the VAT registration number will be granted by the VAT administration). The VAT registration and social security registration are done through a single enterprise number. The company therefore only needs to request the activation of the enterprise number as VAT registration number, if necessary for its activities. This activation can be done by the one- stop shop or directly by the VAT administration. As of 1 April 2010, the company must register with the social insurance fund for self-employed persons ("caisse d'assurances sociales pour travailleurs indépendants" / "sociale verzekeringskas voor zelfstandigen") at the latest on the day of the start of the activities, and no longer within 3 months of incorporation. It must pay into this fund an annual contribution of EUR 868 at most. In addition, if the company has employees in Belgium, it must register with the Belgian social security administration for salaried workers (ONSS/RSZ) and comply with all applicable Belgian employment regulations. The fee for registering a company is EUR 85.5 for the main business entity and EUR 85.5 for every additional business unit to be registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises. VAT registration is (a) free of charge if done directly through the local VAT o ce and (b) EUR 55 (VAT excluded) if done through a one-stop shop (company docket). Applies to women only. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 10   Dealing with Construction Permits Applies to women only. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Dealing with Construction Permits This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required noti cations, requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional certi cation requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number) To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the construction company, the warehouse project and the utility Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining connections are used. all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates The construction company (BuildCo): Submitting all required notifications and - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the receiving all necessary inspections economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining utility connections for water and - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has ve owners, none of whom sewerage is a legal entity. Has a licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both Registering and selling the warehouse after its registered with the local association of architects or engineers. BuildCo is completion not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed Time required to complete each procedure experts, such as geological or topographical experts. (calendar days) - Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse upon its completion. Does not include time spent gathering information The warehouse: Each procedure starts on a separate day— - Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or though procedures that can be fully completed stationery. online are an exception to this rule - Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of Procedure is considered completed once final approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square feet). Each oor will document is received be 3 meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be located on a land plot of No prior contact with officials approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100% owned by BuildCo, and the warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a warehouse value) licensed architect. If preparation of the plans requires such steps as Official costs only, no bribes obtaining further documentation or getting prior approvals from external Building quality control index (0-15) agencies, these are counted as procedures. - Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative Sum of the scores of six component indices: and regulatory requirements). Quality of building regulations (0-2) The water and sewerage connections: Quality control before construction (0-1) - Will be 150 meters (492 feet) from the existing water source and sewer Quality control during construction (0-3) tap. If there is no water delivery infrastructure in the economy, a borehole Quality control after construction (0-3) will be dug. If there is no sewerage infrastructure, a septic tank in the smallest size available will be installed or built. Liability and insurance regimes (0-2) - Will have an average water use of 662 liters (175 gallons) a day and an Professional certifications (0-4) average wastewater ow of 568 liters (150 gallons) a day. Will have a peak water use of 1,325 liters (350 gallons) a day and a peak wastewater ow of 1,136 liters (300 gallons) a day. - Will have a constant level of water demand and wastewater ow throughout the year; will be 1 inch in diameter for the water connection and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Standardized Warehouse Page 11   and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Standardized Warehouse Estimated value of warehouse EUR 1,842,567.70 City Covered Brussels OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 10 12.5 12.5 7.00 (Denmark) Time (days) 212 154.6 154.6 27.5 (Korea, Rep.) Cost (% of warehouse value) 1.0 1.6 1.6 0.10 (5 Economies) Building quality control index (0-15) 12.0 11.4 11.4 15.00 (3 Economies) Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Belgium and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 80.39: United Kingdom (Rank: 14) 79.29: France (Rank: 18) 78.16: Germany (Rank: 24) 75.36: Belgium (Rank: 39) 75.14: Regional Average (OECD high income) 69.33: Netherlands (Rank: 76) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for dealing with construction permits. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 1 200 0.8 Cost (% of warehouse value) 150 Time (days) 0.6 100 0.4 50 0.2 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 *8 9 10 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Page 12   component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 1 200 0.8 Cost (% of warehouse value) 150 Time (days) 0.6 100 0.4 50 0.2 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 *8 9 10 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Belgium and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 16 14.0 14 12.0 12 11.4 9.5 10.0 Index score 10 9.0 8 6 4 2 0 Belgium France Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain a recent proof of land ownership 7 days EUR 75 Agency : Bureau de l’Enregistrement The administration must check two items: 1. That the person requesting the building permit has the right to do so. He might not necessarily be the owner of the land, but acting on behalf of the owner. 2. The applicant must submit a recent list of neighboring plots. In case of inquiry they should be able to consult the neighbors. Therefore, the cadastral extract must be recent. Although the town has access to cadastral plans, the applicant must still obtain a recent cadastral Page 13   extract. It costs around 50-100 Euros and it takes a maximum of 15 days to Belgium France Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain a recent proof of land ownership 7 days EUR 75 Agency : Bureau de l’Enregistrement The administration must check two items: 1. That the person requesting the building permit has the right to do so. He might not necessarily be the owner of the land, but acting on behalf of the owner. 2. The applicant must submit a recent list of neighboring plots. In case of inquiry they should be able to consult the neighbors. Therefore, the cadastral extract must be recent. Although the town has access to cadastral plans, the applicant must still obtain a recent cadastral extract. It costs around 50-100 Euros and it takes a maximum of 15 days to obtain it. 2 Obtain clearance from the Fire Department 14 days EUR 880 Agency : Fire Department Some municipalities request a re department report on the owner’s behalf. The cost to obtain this report is set in the o cial fee schedule published in the law: December 18, 2003 Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale xant les redevances à percevoir en contrepartie des prestations e ectuées pour des missions de prévention par le Service d’Incendie et d’Aide médicale urgente de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale. 3 Request building permit from the Municipality 110 days EUR 780 Agency : Municipality The building permit request must be led with the Municipality along with drawings. In Brussels, an environmental impact report is not required for a warehouse construction similar to that in the Doing Business case study. Moreover, the building permit expires after 2 years from the date of issuance, if construction has not started within that period. The Urbanism Department has 30 days to inform the applicant that the application is not complete. After that period, the administration has another 3 months, depending on the type of construction to deliver the "permis d'urbanism." Other clearances are required such as obtaining clearance from VIVAQUA for sewage, obtaining information regarding the sewage and the depth at which the sewage pipes are located. This can take another 30 days. Contacting VIVAQUA is done by the Urbanism Department and is part of the permit request process. 4 Inform Municipality of commencement of work 1 day no charge Agency : Municipality The builder must inform the Municipality of the commencement of work by writing a certi ed letter 8 days prior to the start of construction. According to Art. 194/2 of the CoBAT, it is mandatory that the permit be posted on the construction site before the start of construction and throughout its entire duration. 5 Receive on-site inspection from Fire Department after construction 1 day no charge Agency : Fire Department Page 14   construction site before the start of construction and throughout its entire Doing duration. Business 2018 Belgium 5 Receive on-site inspection from Fire Department after construction 1 day no charge Agency : Fire Department 6 Inform Municipality of the completion of construction 1 day no charge Agency : Municipality 7 File application and receive an inspection by the Cadastre upon 1 day no charge completion of construction Agency : Administration du Cadastre Within 30 days after the warehouse is in use, BuildCo must le an application at the Cadastre for "Le Revenu Cadastral." The request is made by completing and submitting the form. An agent will visit the building and determine its value. BuildCo does not need to be present at the inspection. They inform BuildCo of the new property tax by certi ed mail. The value of the property is revised on an annual basis. 8 Apply for water and sewage connection 1 day no charge Agency : Hydrobru 9 Receive inspection for water and sewage on construction site 1 day no charge Agency : Hydrobru The site inspection occurs in about a week from the request (EUR 50.00 per site visit, which is paid when the connection is established, procedure 12). 10 Obtain water and sewage connection 75 days EUR 16,602 Agency : Hydrobru The sewage connection is assumed to be a standard connection of high- density polyethylene, 200 millimeters (7.8 inch) by 3 meters deep. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Belgium – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) 12.0 Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 2.0 How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Available online; 1.0 Free of charge. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly speci ed in the building List of required 1.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) documents; Fees to be paid; Required preapprovals. Quality control before construction index (0-1) 1.0 Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in Licensed 1.0 compliance with existing building regulations? (0-1) architect; Licensed engineer. Page 15   Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Belgium – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) 12.0 Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 2.0 How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Available online; 1.0 Free of charge. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly speci ed in the building List of required 1.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) documents; Fees to be paid; Required preapprovals. Quality control before construction index (0-1) 1.0 Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in Licensed 1.0 compliance with existing building regulations? (0-1) architect; Licensed engineer. Quality control during construction index (0-3) 2.0 What types of inspections (if any) are required by law to be carried out during Inspections by 1.0 construction? (0-2) in-house engineer. Do legally mandated inspections occur in practice during construction? (0-1) Mandatory 1.0 inspections are always done in practice; Inspections are not mandated by law but commonly occur in practice during construction. Quality control after construction index (0-3) 3.0 Is there a nal inspection required by law to verify that the building was built in Yes, in-house 2.0 accordance with the approved plans and regulations? (0-2) engineer submits report for nal inspection. Do legally mandated nal inspections occur in practice? (0-1) Final inspection 1.0 always occurs in practice. Liability and insurance regimes index (0-2) 2.0 Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural aws or problems in the Architect or 1.0 building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) engineer; Construction Page 16   company. Liability Doing 2018 regimes and insurance Business index (0-2) Belgium 2.0 Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural aws or problems in the Architect or 1.0 building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) engineer; Construction company. Which parties (if any) are required by law to obtain an insurance policy to cover Architect or 1.0 possible structural aws or problems in the building once it is in use (Latent Defect engineer; Liability Insurance or Decennial Insurance)? (0-1) Insurance is commonly taken in practice. Professional certi cations index (0-4) 2.0 What are the quali cation requirements for the professional responsible for verifying University 1.0 that the architectural plans or drawings are in compliance with existing building degree in regulations? (0-2) architecture or engineering; Being a registered architect or engineer. What are the quali cation requirements for the professional who supervises the University 1.0 construction on the ground? (0-2) degree in engineering, construction or construction management; Being a registered architect or engineer. Getting Electricity This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally, the reliability of supply and transparency of tari s index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tari s and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to obtain an electricity connection To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions are (number) used. Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining The warehouse: all necessary clearances and permits - Is owned by a local entrepreneur and is used for storage of goods. Completing all required notifications and - Is located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the receiving all necessary inspections data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining external installation works and possibly - Is located in an area where similar warehouses are typically located and is purchasing material for these works in an area with no physical constraints. For example, the property is not Concluding any necessary supply contract and near a railway. obtaining final supply - Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the rst time. Time required to complete each procedure - Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square (calendar days) is 929 meters (14,000 square feet). The plot of land on which it is builtPage 17   Is at least 1 calendar day square meters (10,000 square feet). architect or engineer. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Getting Electricity This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally, the reliability of supply and transparency of tari s index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tari s and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to obtain an electricity connection To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions are (number) used. Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining The warehouse: all necessary clearances and permits - Is owned by a local entrepreneur and is used for storage of goods. Completing all required notifications and - Is located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the receiving all necessary inspections data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining external installation works and possibly - Is located in an area where similar warehouses are typically located and is purchasing material for these works in an area with no physical constraints. For example, the property is not Concluding any necessary supply contract and near a railway. obtaining final supply - Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the rst time. Time required to complete each procedure - Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square (calendar days) meters (14,000 square feet). The plot of land on which it is built is 929 Is at least 1 calendar day square meters (10,000 square feet). Each procedure starts on a separate day Does not include time spent gathering The electricity connection: information - Is a permanent one with a three-phase, four-wire Y connection with a subscribed capacity of 140-kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) with a power factor of 1, Reflects the time spent in practice, with little when 1 kVA = 1 kilowatt (kW). follow-up and no prior contact with officials - Has a length of 150 meters. The connection is to either the low- or Cost required to complete each procedure (% of medium-voltage distribution network and is either overhead or income per capita) underground, whichever is more common in the area where the warehouse is located and requires works that involve the crossing of a 10- Official costs only, no bribes meter road (such as by excavation or overhead lines) but are all carried out Value added tax excluded on public land. There is no crossing of other owners’ private property The reliability of supply and transparency of because the warehouse has access to a road. tari s index (0-8) - Does not require work to install the internal wiring of the warehouse. This has already been completed up to and including the customer’s service Duration and frequency of power outages (0–3) panel or switchboard and the meter base. Tools to monitor power outages (0–1) Tools to restore power supply (0–1) The monthly consumption: Regulatory monitoring of utilities’ performance - It is assumed that the warehouse operates 30 days a month from 9:00 (0–1) a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (8 hours a day), with equipment utilized at 80% of capacity Financial deterrents limiting outages (0–1) on average and that there are no electricity cuts (assumed for simplicity reasons) and the monthly energy consumption is 26,880 kilowatt-hours Transparency and accessibility of tariffs (0–1) (kWh); hourly consumption is 112 kWh. Price of electricity (cents per kilowatt-hour)* - If multiple electricity suppliers exist, the warehouse is served by the Price based on monthly bill for commercial cheapest supplier. warehouse in case study - Tari s e ective in March of the current year are used for calculation of the price of electricity for the warehouse. Although March has 31 days, for * N o t e : Doing Business m e a s u r e s t h e p r i c e o f calculation purposes only 30 days are used. electricity, but it is not included in the distance to frontier score nor the ranking on the ease of getting electricity. Page 18   Standardized Connection frontier score nor the ranking on the ease of getting electricity. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Standardized Connection Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) 16.7 Name of utility Sibelga City Covered Brussels OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 6 4.7 4.7 2 (United Arab Emirates) Time (days) 201 79.1 79.1 10 (United Arab Emirates) Cost (% of income per capita) 101.1 63.0 63.0 0.00 (Japan) Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff 8 7.4 7.4 8.00 (28 Economies) index (0-8) Figure – Getting Electricity in Belgium and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 98.79: Germany (Rank: 5) 93.29: United Kingdom (Rank: 9) 85.89: France (Rank: 26) 84.44: Regional Average (OECD high income) 81.58: Netherlands (Rank: 52) 67.30: Belgium (Rank: 103) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting electricity is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Getting Electricity in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 200 60 50 Cost (% of income per capita) 150 40 Time (days) 100 30 20 50 10 Page 19   getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Figure – Getting Electricity in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 200 60 50 Cost (% of income per capita) 150 40 Time (days) 100 30 20 50 10 0 0 1 *2 *3 4 *5 *6 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Getting Electricity in Belgium and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 8.1 8 8 8 8 8 8 7.9 7.8 Index score 7.7 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.4 7.3 7.2 7.1 Belgium France Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Getting Electricity in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Submit application to Sibelga and await estimate 21 calendar days EUR 648 Agency : Sibelga An application for a new electricity connected can be submitted online, by courier or by written request through postal service. An uno cial map/sketch indicating the building and public streets needs to be provided with the application. The document does not need notarization. An estimate is sent to the customer after submission of the application. 2 Conclude contract with electricity supplier 2 calendar days EUR 0 Agency : Electricity supplier The customer has to conclude a contract with a supplier. Most of the Page 20   Belgium France Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Getting Electricity in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Submit application to Sibelga and await estimate 21 calendar days EUR 648 Agency : Sibelga An application for a new electricity connected can be submitted online, by courier or by written request through postal service. An uno cial map/sketch indicating the building and public streets needs to be provided with the application. The document does not need notarization. An estimate is sent to the customer after submission of the application. 2 Conclude contract with electricity supplier 2 calendar days EUR 0 Agency : Electricity supplier The customer has to conclude a contract with a supplier. Most of the suppliers o er contracting by website (online) or by phone, and the electricity supply contract is usually concluded directly. The supplier has to register the contract in the national register for access to the network, which is done within 24 hours. 3 Receive internal wiring inspection by approved agency 1 calendar day EUR 217.39 Agency : Approved agency There is no external inspection. However, before the external connection works and the turn-on of the meter, the internal wiring of the warehouse must be inspected by an approved agency such as Vincotte or BTV. The customer has to make that request. The customer or a representative has to be present for the inspection. The certi cate of compliance is obtained immediately after the inspection. 4 Accept estimate and await completion of external works by Sibelga 180 calendar days EUR 16,389 Agency : Sibelga The payment of the estimate can be done by wire transfer to a bank. The planning and execution of the external connection works can only begin after the estimate has been paid as this serves as approval of the o er. The installation of the meter is done by Sibelga and the nal connections works is done by a di erent team within the same department. The electricity starts owing immediately after the connection has been done if the contract between the supplier and the customer has been registered and the report of the internal inspection has been provided. 5 Purchase and install transformer 14 calendar days EUR 20,000 Agency : Electrical Contractor The electrician of the client purchases a transformer and installs it on the ground of the warehouse to be connected with the network of the utility. 6 Obtain certi cation of works by specialized agency 1 calendar day EUR 0 Agency : Authorized agency A representative of a specialized agency comes to the warehouse to approve the installation works of the transformer. The price of the certi cation is included in the price of installation of the transformer. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 21   included in the price of installation of the transformer. Takes Business Doing 2018 Belgium place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Getting Electricity in Belgium – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index (0-8) 8 Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 3 System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) 0.4 System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) 0.4 What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI 3.0 Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? Yes Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? Yes Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 1 Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on Yes reliability of supply? Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 1 Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face nes by the regulator (or both) if outages Yes exceed a certain cap? Communication of tari s and tari changes (0-1) 1 Are e ective tari s available online? Yes Link to the website, if available online https://entreprises. mesfournisseurs.be/ energie/gaz- electricite Are customers noti ed of a change in tari ahead of the billing cycle? Yes Note: If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index. If the duration and frequency of outages is not available, or is over 100, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Registering Property This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality of land administration index has ve dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. Page 22   Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Getting Electricity in Belgium – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index (0-8) 8 Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 3 System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) 0.4 System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) 0.4 What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI 3.0 Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? Yes Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? Yes Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 1 Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on Yes reliability of supply? Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 1 Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face nes by the regulator (or both) if outages Yes exceed a certain cap? Communication of tari s and tari changes (0-1) 1 Are e ective tari s available online? Yes Link to the website, if available online https://entreprises. mesfournisseurs.be/ energie/gaz- electricite Are customers noti ed of a change in tari ahead of the billing cycle? Yes Note: If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index. If the duration and frequency of outages is not available, or is over 100, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Registering Property This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality of land administration index has ve dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. Page 23   If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Registering Property This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality of land administration index has ve dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally transfer title on immovable To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions property (number) about the parties to the transaction, the property and the procedures are used. Preregistration procedures (for example, checking for liens, notarizing sales agreement, The parties (buyer and seller): paying property transfer taxes) - Are limited liability companies (or the legal equivalent). Registration procedures in the economy's largest - Are located in the periurban area of the economy’s largest business city. business citya. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest Postregistration procedures (for example, filling business city. title with municipality) - Are 100% domestically and privately owned. Time required to complete each procedure - Have 50 employees each, all of whom are nationals. (calendar days) - Perform general commercial activities. Does not include time spent gathering information The property (fully owned by the seller): - Has a value of 50 times income per capita, which equals the sale price. Each procedure starts on a separate day - though - Is fully owned by the seller. procedures that can be fully completed online - Has no mortgages attached and has been under the same ownership for are an exception to this rule the past 10 years. Procedure is considered completed once final - Is registered in the land registry or cadastre, or both, and is free of title document is received disputes. No prior contact with officials - Is located in a periurban commercial zone, and no rezoning is required. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Consists of land and a building. The land area is 557.4 square meters property value) (6,000 square feet). A two-story warehouse of 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) is located on the land. The warehouse is 10 years old, is in Official costs only (such as administrative fees, good condition, has no heating system and complies with all safety duties and taxes). standards, building codes and legal requirements. The property, Value Added Tax, Capital Gains Tax and illicit consisting of land and building, will be transferred in its entirety. payments are excluded - Will not be subject to renovations or additional construction following the purchase. Quality of land administration index (0-30) - Has no trees, natural water sources, natural reserves or historical Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) monuments of any kind. Transparency of information index (0–6) - Will not be used for special purposes, and no special permits, such as for Geographic coverage index (0–8) residential use, industrial plants, waste storage or certain types of agricultural activities, are required. Land dispute resolution index (0–8) - Has no occupants, and no other party holds a legal interest in it. Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) Standard Property Transfer Property value EUR 1,842,567.70 City Covered Brussels Page 24   OECD high OECD high Doing Business 2018 Belgium Standard Property Transfer Property value EUR 1,842,567.70 City Covered Brussels OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 8 4.6 4.6 1.00 (4 Economies) Time (days) 56 22.3 22.3 1.00 (3 Economies) Cost (% of property value) 12.7 4.2 4.2 0.00 (5 Economies) Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 22.5 22.7 22.7 29.00 (Singapore) Figure – Registering Property in Belgium and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 80.04: Netherlands (Rank: 30) 76.81: Regional Average (OECD high income) 74.51: United Kingdom (Rank: 47) 65.71: Germany (Rank: 77) 60.69: France (Rank: 100) 51.40: Belgium (Rank: 138) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of registering property is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Registering Property in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 14 50 12 Cost (% of property value) 40 10 Time (days) 8 30 6 20 4 10 2 0 0 1 2 *3 *4 *5 *6 7 8 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Page 25   Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Figure – Registering Property in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 14 50 12 Cost (% of property value) 40 10 Time (days) 8 30 6 20 4 10 2 0 0 1 2 *3 *4 *5 *6 7 8 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Registering Property in Belgium and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 35 30 28.5 24.0 24.5 25 22.5 22.0 22.7 Index score 20 15 10 5 0 Belgium France Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Registering Property in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Parties give initial sale agreement to notary 1 day Included in Agency : Notary Procedure 8 The transfer of ownership can be done by an agreement between seller and buyer. However, in order to validate the transfer of ownership vis-à-vis third parties, the initial agreement needs to be notarized and registered with the mortgage register by a notary. The notary will draw up a deed and obtain all necessary documentation (see following Procedures). The notary also checks, for companies, the copy of the publication of the names of the directors in the Belgian O cial Gazette. The documentation shall include: • Initial sale agreement Page 26   • Proper proof of identi cation, or, in the case of a company, the Belgium France Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Registering Property in Belgium – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Parties give initial sale agreement to notary 1 day Included in Agency : Notary Procedure 8 The transfer of ownership can be done by an agreement between seller and buyer. However, in order to validate the transfer of ownership vis-à-vis third parties, the initial agreement needs to be notarized and registered with the mortgage register by a notary. The notary will draw up a deed and obtain all necessary documentation (see following Procedures). The notary also checks, for companies, the copy of the publication of the names of the directors in the Belgian O cial Gazette. The documentation shall include: • Initial sale agreement • Proper proof of identi cation, or, in the case of a company, the memorandum of association/articles of incorporation/by-laws 2 Notary obtains zoning certi cates from the municipality 30 days EUR 120 (included in Agency : Municipality (simultaneous with Procedure 8) procedures 3, 4, 5 The notary obtains zoning certi cate. and 6) 3 Notary obtains excerpt from the mortgage register to verify whether 15-30 days EUR 85 (excerpt, certain third party rights were granted over the property and copies of (simultaneous with included in the transfer deeds over a 30-year period procedures 2, 4, 5 Procedure 8) + EUR Agency : Mortgage O ce (Mortgage register) and 6) 50 (copies of deeds, included in The notary obtains an excerpt from the mortgage register in order to verify Procedure 8) whether certain third party rights were granted over the property, e.g. through mortgages, rights to construct ("opstalrecht / droit de super cie"). A 30-year title search (if the acquisition is nanced through a mortgage backed facility agreement) will be included in the documents. The notary obtains copies of the transfer deeds over a 30-year period at the same place. The mortgage registry provides (i) "full transcription" of the title or of the judgment attributing the title: the date of acquisition of the full ownership or other right over the property (such as usufruct -right to use the property-, super cies-right to construct), the terms and conditions of the acquisition including the purchase price, the existence of lease contracts exceeding 9 years and information on the rights of third parties such as judgments, servitudes/easements and seizures a ecting the property in question for the past 30 years and (ii) by "inscription" whether the right over the property is encumbered by a mortgage or a legal lien (bene ciary, amount, costs, term). 4 Notary obtains tax certi cates relating to the seller's tax position from 15 days EUR 24.8 (included in tax administration (Inland Revenue) (simultaneous with Procedure 8) Agency : Inland Revenue procedures 2, 3, 5 and 6) The notary obtains tax certi cates relating to the seller's tax position from the Inland Revenue, the VAT authorities and the municipal tax collector relating to the seller's tax position. A request for this information can be submitted online, but the response will arrive 15 days later. If there is no answer within 12 working days, the notary can process the deed anyway, therefore assuming there are no tax issues. The only tax information which still needs to be asked by registered letter is the municipal or provincial tax information. Since April 2007, the request could be submitted online but the response would still arrive within 15 days. In addition, since April 2007 Page 27   notaries have to verify at the same time the seller's social security position. past 30 years and (ii) by "inscription" whether the right over the property is Doing encumbered by a mortgage Business 2018 Belgiumor a legal lien (bene ciary, amount, costs, term). 4 Notary obtains tax certi cates relating to the seller's tax position from 15 days EUR 24.8 (included in tax administration (Inland Revenue) (simultaneous with Procedure 8) Agency : Inland Revenue procedures 2, 3, 5 and 6) The notary obtains tax certi cates relating to the seller's tax position from the Inland Revenue, the VAT authorities and the municipal tax collector relating to the seller's tax position. A request for this information can be submitted online, but the response will arrive 15 days later. If there is no answer within 12 working days, the notary can process the deed anyway, therefore assuming there are no tax issues. The only tax information which still needs to be asked by registered letter is the municipal or provincial tax information. Since April 2007, the request could be submitted online but the response would still arrive within 15 days. In addition, since April 2007 notaries have to verify at the same time the seller's social security position. The notary has to verify with every social security fund (there are +/- 15 of them). However, this process is done electronically, simultaneously with the veri cation of the tax position. The Procedure is integrated in the existing Procedure related to the tax position of the seller. The time needed for this veri cation is 15 days as well. It takes place fully electronically, just as getting the tax certi cates. 5 Obtain a clean-soil certi cate IBGE/BIM 20 days EUR 36 Agency : Brussels Institute for Environmental Management (IBGE/BIM) (simultaneous with procedures 2, 3, 4 Brussels legislation on soil clean-up (ordonnance du 5 mars 2009 relative à la and 6) gestion et à l'assainissement des sols pollués et l'arrêté du 24 septembre 2010 du gouvernement de la région de Bruxelles-Capitale relatif à l'attestation du sol) state that a soil certi cate is now required for every transfer of land. Furthermore, according to the terms of the ordonnance du 5 mars 2009 relative à la gestion et à l'assainissement des sols pollués, a soil survey must also be performed where soil pollution is suspected. The time limit is 20 days from receipt of the (valid) request to obtain a soil certi cate. The seller of an immoveable good has to ask the Brussels environmental authorities (BIM) for a soil certi cate (attestation du sol/bodemattest) which he has to transmit to the buyer before the conclusion of the private sale agreement (compromis de vente). For some type of lands, an expert must examine the land to check whether the soil is polluted ("reconnaissance du sol /verkennend bodemonderzoek"). On basis of the results of this survey, BIM decides whether the transfer can take place without any further measure or whether the condition of the soil requires additional measures to be taken (e.g. clean-up). If additional measures have to be taken, the transfer can nevertheless take place before the clean-up if some conditions are ful lled. This new Act is a transposition of European legislation (article 17§2 of the Ordinance of 5 March 2009). 6 Notary obtains excerpt and plan from land register ("kadaster / Less than a day - EUR 20 (EUR 3.15 per cadastre") indicating the exact land register references online procedure online request + EUR Agency : Land register ("kadaster / cadastre") (simultaneous with 5.5 excerpt of the procedures 2, 3, 4, cadastral matrix (212 Notary obtains excerpt and plan from land register ("kadaster / cadastre") and 5) AM) + EUR 11 excerpt indicating the exact land register references, or (i) the detailed of the cadastral plan) address/location of the property or, if the address/location is not available, Included in (ii) the identity and address of the (assumed) owner. The transfer deed must contain the latest cadastral information about the property to be Procedure 8 transferred. Notaries can now verify the most updated cadastral information on that property online and print the information to complete the transaction. The notary can obtain the excerpt from the land register ("Matrice cadastrale") directly from the land register's database by electronic means. The o cial document ("Extrait cadastral") has to be requested by e- Page 28   mail but is sent to the notary via regular mail. The "matrice cadastrale" are ful lled. This new Act is a transposition of European legislation (article Doing 17§2 of the Ordinance Business of 5 March 2009). 2018 Belgium 6 Notary obtains excerpt and plan from land register ("kadaster / Less than a day - EUR 20 (EUR 3.15 per cadastre") indicating the exact land register references online procedure online request + EUR Agency : Land register ("kadaster / cadastre") (simultaneous with 5.5 excerpt of the procedures 2, 3, 4, cadastral matrix (212 Notary obtains excerpt and plan from land register ("kadaster / cadastre") and 5) AM) + EUR 11 excerpt indicating the exact land register references, or (i) the detailed of the cadastral plan) address/location of the property or, if the address/location is not available, Included in (ii) the identity and address of the (assumed) owner. The transfer deed must contain the latest cadastral information about the property to be Procedure 8 transferred. Notaries can now verify the most updated cadastral information on that property online and print the information to complete the transaction. The notary can obtain the excerpt from the land register ("Matrice cadastrale") directly from the land register's database by electronic means. The o cial document ("Extrait cadastral") has to be requested by e- mail but is sent to the notary via regular mail. The "matrice cadastrale" provides basically the same information as the "extrait cadastral". 7 The notary draws up the deed based on the agreement between the 1-2 days Included in parties Procedure 8 Agency : Notary On the basis of the agreement between the parties, the notary will draw up a deed after obtaining the required documents. Normally, the seller and buying company enter into a private agreement (“onderhandse overeenkomst / le compromis”) in which the main contractual provisions (price, subject matter, obligations of both parties, etc) are listed. Subject to ful llment of certain conditions precedent, if any, such agreement will transfer title to the buyer. Vis-à-vis third parties, title will pass upon registration of the deed with the mortgage register (“hypotheekkantoor / registre des hypothèques” ) referred to in the following procedure. Common conditions precedent are: waiver of pre-emption rights over the property and obtaining of consents from local authorities. Transfer of title between parties can be made subject to the registration of the deed with the mortgage registry. The documentation shall include*: Before execution of the deed, the notary will normally have obtained the following documents: Excerpt and plan from the land register (“kadaster / cadastre”) indicating the exact land register references (obtained in Procedure 2) Copies of all transfer deed over a 30-year period (obtained in Procedure 3) Zoning certi cates; (obtained in Procedure 4) Tax certi cates from the Inland Revenue, the VAT authorities and the municipal tax collector relating to the seller’s tax position (the same certi cates will be requested with regard to the buyer company if it nances the acquisition through a mortgage backed facility agreement); (obtained in Procedure 5) Obtaining waivers of pre-emption rights and consents from local authorities, if any; Excerpt from the mortgage register in order to verify whether certain third party rights were granted over the property, e.g. mortgages, rights to construct (“opstalrecht / droit de super cie”), etc; (obtained in Procedure 3) and A 30-year title search (if the acquisition is nanced through a mortgage backed facility agreement) (obtained in Procedure 3). The notary’s fees are determined by law (Arrete Royal) and the payment of Page 29   the registration duties and notary fees takes place after the signature of the A 30-year title search (if the acquisition is nanced through a mortgage backed facility agreement) (obtained in Procedure 3). Doing Business 2018 Belgium The notary’s fees are determined by law (Arrete Royal) and the payment of the registration duties and notary fees takes place after the signature of the deed. * The new Brussels legislation on soil clean-up obliges a seller of real estate to conduct a soil survey for lands where pollution is suspected, if clean-up is deemed necessary by the Brussels environmental authorities (BIM), to perform clean-up measures prior to transferring the polluted site. Contrary to the Flemish Region (where property rights may be transferred as soon as su cient nancial guarantees are in place), the Brussels statute on soil clean-up does not allow to proceed with the transfer before the actual clean- up works have been completed. * The pre-emption rights exist in some predetermined areas of the Flemish and Brussels Region. The seller or the notary noti es the competent administration (GRONDREGIE / REGIE FONCIERE ) as soon as he receives the "compromis". These administrations then have 2 months to decide whether to exercise their pre-emption right. Some pre-emption rights also exist in the Walloon Region. The areas in Brussels where needed to obtain a waiver for preemption are speci ed in the website: http://www.bruxelles.irisnet.be/fr/citoyens/home/logement/acheter_vendre/ perimetre_de_preemption.shtml 8 The notary applies for registration with the local Registration O ce (Tax 15 days - 1 month 12.5% of transaction O ce) and also with the Mortgage O ce price (registration Agency : Mortgage O ce (Mortgage register) fee) + EUR 3,878 (notary fees and The notary is required to present the original deed itself to his local costs) Registration O ce (Tax o ce) within 15 days after the date of execution for payment of the stamp duties. The notary is also required to present an authentic copy of the deed to the Mortgage o ce for transcription within 15 days from the date of the deed (this guarantees publicity vis-à-vis third parties). The mortgage register will verify all documentation and complete the transfer in its records and send a certi ed copy of the deed. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Registering Property in Belgium – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 22.5 Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 5.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? Conservation des hypothèques In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business city Computer/Scann 1.0 —in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? ed Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, No 0.0 restrictions and the like)? Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: The Cadastre at the general Administration of patrimonial Page 30   Documentation Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Registering Property in Belgium – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 22.5 Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 5.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? Conservation des hypothèques In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business city Computer/Scann 1.0 —in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? ed Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, No 0.0 restrictions and the like)? Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: The Cadastre at the general Administration of patrimonial Documentation (Administration générale de la Documentation patrimoniale) In what format are the majority of maps of land plots kept in the largest business city— Computer/Fully 2.0 in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? digital Is there an electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing Yes 1.0 cadastral information (geographic information system)? Is the information recorded by the immovable property registration agency and the Separate 0.0 cadastral or mapping agency kept in a single database, in di erent but linked databases databases or in separate databases? Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use Yes 1.0 the same identi cation number for properties? Transparency of information index (0–6) 3.5 Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of Anyone who 1.0 immovable property registration in the largest business city? pays the o cial fee Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction No 0.0 made publicly available–and if so, how? Link for online access: Is the applicable fee schedule for any property transaction at the agency in charge of Yes, online 0.5 immovable property registration in the largest business city made publicly available– and if so, how? Link for online access: http:// nances.b elgium.be/fr/part iculiers/habitatio n/acheter_vendr Page 31   e/acheter_et_ven immovable property registration in the largest business city made publicly available– and if Doing so, how? 2018 Business Belgium Link for online access: http:// nances.b elgium.be/fr/part iculiers/habitatio n/acheter_vendr e/acheter_et_ven dre_avec_droits_ d_enregistremen t/#q17 https://www.nota ire.be/calcul-de- frais Does the agency in charge of immovable property registration commit to delivering a No 0.0 legally binding document that proves property ownership within a speci c time frame– and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a speci c and separate mechanism for ling complaints about a problem that Yes 1.0 occurred at the agency in charge of immovable property registration? Contact information: http:// nances.b elgium.be/fr/Con tact/service_gesti on_des_plaintes/ Section "Documentation patrimoniale" Are there publicly available o cial statistics tracking the number of transactions at the No 0.0 immovable property registration agency? Number of property transfers in the largest business city in 2015: Who is able to consult maps of land plots in the largest business city? Freely accessible 0.5 by anyone Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly available Yes, online 0.5 —and if so, how? Link for online access: http://www.cada stre.be/Belgique/ Bruxelles_Capital e/Bruxelles Does the cadastral or mapping agency commit to delivering an updated map within a No 0.0 speci c time frame—and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a speci c and separate mechanism for ling complaints about a problem that No 0.0 occurred at the cadastral or mapping agency? Contact information: Geographic coverage index (0–8) 8.0 Are all privately held land plots in the economy formally registered at the immovable Yes 2.0 property registry? Page 32   Geographic Doing coverage Business (0–8) indexBelgium 2018 8.0 Are all privately held land plots in the economy formally registered at the immovable Yes 2.0 property registry? Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city formally registered at the Yes 2.0 immovable property registry? Are all privately held land plots in the economy mapped? Yes 2.0 Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city mapped? Yes 2.0 Land dispute resolution index (0–8) 6.0 Does the law require that all property sale transactions be registered at the immovable Yes 1.5 property registry to make them opposable to third parties? Is the system of immovable property registration subject to a state or private Yes 0.5 guarantee? Is there a speci c compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who No 0.0 engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certi ed by the immovable property registry? Does the legal system require a control of legality of the documents necessary for a Yes 0.5 property transaction (e.g., checking the compliance of contracts with requirements of the law)? If yes, who is responsible for checking the legality of the documents? Registrar; Notary. Does the legal system require veri cation of the identity of the parties to a property Yes 0.5 transaction? If yes, who is responsible for verifying the identity of the parties? Registrar; Notary. Is there a national database to verify the accuracy of identity documents? Yes 1.0 For a standard land dispute between two local businesses over tenure rights of a Commercial property worth 50 times gross national income (GNI) per capita and located in the Court (ex article largest business city, what court would be in charge of the case in the rst instance? 573 of the Code judiciaire, 10 octobre 1967) How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the rst-instance court for Between 1 and 2 2.0 such a case (without appeal)? years Are there any statistics on the number of land disputes in the rst instance? No 0.0 Number of land disputes in the largest business city in 2015: Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) 0.0 Do unmarried men and unmarried women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Getting Credit This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the e ectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy Page 33   Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Doing Business 2018 Belgium Getting Credit This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the e ectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Strength of legal rights index (0–12) Doing Business assesses the sharing of credit information and the legal rights of borrowers and lenders with respect to secured transactions Rights of borrowers and lenders through through 2 sets of indicators. The depth of credit information index collateral laws (0-10) measures rules and practices a ecting the coverage, scope and Protection of secured creditors’ rights through accessibility of credit information available through a credit registry or a bankruptcy laws (0-2) credit bureau. The strength of legal rights index measures the degree to Depth of credit information index (0–8) which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first determined Scope and accessibility of credit information whether a unitary secured transactions system exists. Then two case distributed by credit bureaus and credit scenarios, case A and case B, are used to determine how a nonpossessory registries (0-8) security interest is created, publicized and enforced according to the law. Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) Special emphasis is given to how the collateral registry operates (if Number of individuals and firms listed in largest registration of security interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a credit bureau as a percentage of adult population secured borrower, company ABC, and a secured lender, BizBank. Credit registry coverage (% of adults) In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow Number of individuals and firms listed in credit only case A or case B (not both) to apply. Both cases examine the same set registry as a percentage of adult population of legal provisions relating to the use of movable collateral. Several assumptions about the secured borrower (ABC) and lender (BizBank) are used: - ABC is a domestic limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). - ABC has up to 50 employees. - ABC has its headquarters and only base of operations in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - Both ABC and BizBank are 100% domestically owned. The case scenarios also involve assumptions. In case A, as collateral for the loan, ABC grants BizBank a nonpossessory security interest in one category of movable assets, for example, its machinery or its inventory. ABC wants to keep both possession and ownership of the collateral. In economies where the law does not allow nonpossessory security interests in movable property, ABC and BizBank use a fiduciary transfer-of-title arrangement (or a similar substitute for nonpossessory security interests). In case B, ABC grants BizBank a business charge, enterprise charge, floating charge or any charge that gives BizBank a security interest over ABC’s combined movable assets (or as much of ABC’s movable assets as possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets. OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 4 6.0 6.0 12.00 (4 Economies) Depth of credit information index (0-8) 5 6.6 6.6 8.00 (34 Economies) Page 34   Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 95.5 18.3 18.3 100.00 (3 Economies) possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets. Doing Business 2018 Belgium OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 4 6.0 6.0 12.00 (4 Economies) Depth of credit information index (0-8) 5 6.6 6.6 8.00 (34 Economies) Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 95.5 18.3 18.3 100.00 (3 Economies) Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) 0.0 63.7 63.7 100.00 (23 Economies) Figure – Getting Credit in Belgium and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 75.00: United Kingdom (Rank: 29) 70.00: Germany (Rank: 42) 63.03: Regional Average (OECD high income) 50.00: France (Rank: 90) 45.00: Belgium (Rank: 105) 45.00: Netherlands (Rank: 105) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting credit is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for getting credit. These scores are the distance to frontier score for the sum of the strength of legal rights index and the depth of credit information index. Figure – Legal Rights in Belgium and comparator economies 8 7 7 6 6.0 6 Index score 5 4 4 4 3 2 2 1 0 Belgium France Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Legal Rights in Belgium Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 4 Does an integrated or uni ed legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and No enforcement of functional equivalents to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without No requiring a speci c description of collateral? Page 35   Belgium France Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Legal Rights in Belgium Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 4 Does an integrated or uni ed legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and No enforcement of functional equivalents to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without No requiring a speci c description of collateral? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in substantially all of its assets, without requiring Yes a speci c description of collateral? May a security right extend to future or after-acquired assets, and does it extend automatically to the products, proceeds No or replacements of the original assets? Is a general description of debts and obligations permitted in collateral agreements; can all types of debts and Yes obligations be secured between parties; and can the collateral agreement include a maximum amount for which the assets are encumbered? Is a collateral registry in operation for both incorporated and non-incorporated entities, that is uni ed geographically No and by asset type, with an electronic database indexed by debtor's name? Does a notice-based collateral registry exist in which all functional equivalents can be registered? No Does a modern collateral registry exist in which registrations, amendments, cancellations and searches can be No performed online by any interested third party? Are secured creditors paid rst (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a debtor defaults outside an insolvency Yes procedure? Are secured creditors paid rst (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a business is liquidated? Yes Are secured creditors subject to an automatic stay on enforcement when a debtor enters a court-supervised No reorganization procedure? Does the law protect secured creditors’ rights by providing clear grounds for relief from the stay and/or sets a time limit for it? Does the law allow parties to agree on out of court enforcement at the time a security interest is created? Does the law No allow the secured creditor to sell the collateral through public auction or private tender, as well as, for the secured creditor to keep the asset in satisfaction of the debt? Figure – Credit Information in Belgium and comparator economies 10 8 8 8 7 6.6 Index score 6 6 5 4 2 0 Belgium France Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Credit Information in Belgium Page 36   0 Belgium Doing Business 2018 BelgiumFrance Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Credit Information in Belgium Credit Credit Depth of credit information index (0-8) bureau registry Score Are data on both firms and individuals distributed? No Yes 1 Are both positive and negative credit data distributed? No No 0 Are data from retailers or utility companies - in addition to data from banks and financial institutions - No Yes 1 distributed? Are at least 2 years of historical data distributed? (Credit bureaus and registries that distribute more No No 0 than 10 years of negative data or erase data on defaults as soon as they are repaid obtain a score of 0 for this component.) Are data on loan amounts below 1% of income per capita distributed? No Yes 1 By law, do borrowers have the right to access their data in the credit bureau or credit registry? No Yes 1 Can banks and financial institutions access borrowers’ credit information online (for example, No Yes 1 through an online platform, a system-to-system connection or both)? Are bureau or registry credit scores offered as a value-added service to help banks and financial No No 0 institutions assess the creditworthiness of borrowers? Score ("yes" to either public bureau or private registry) 5 Note: An economy receives a score of 1 if there is a "yes" to either bureau or registry. If the credit bureau or registry is not operational or covers less than 5% of the adult population, the total score on the depth of credit information index is 0. Coverage Credit bureau Credit registry Number of individuals 0 6,617,518 Number of firms 0 374,651 Total 0 6,992,169 Percentage of adult population 0.0 95.5 Protecting Minority Investors This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights, governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Extent of disclosure index (0–10): Review and To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several approval requirements for related-party assumptions about the business and the transaction. transactions; Disclosure requirements for related-party transactions The business (Buyer): Extent of director liability index (0–10): Ability of - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important minority shareholders to sue and hold interested stock exchange. If the number of publicly traded companies listed on that directors liable for prejudicial related-party exchange is less than 10, or if there is no stock exchange in the economy, it is assumed that Buyer is a large private company with multiple Page 37   transactions; Available legal remedies (damages, Percentage of adult population 0.0 95.5 Doing Business 2018 Belgium Protecting Minority Investors This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights, governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Extent of disclosure index (0–10): Review and To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several approval requirements for related-party assumptions about the business and the transaction. transactions; Disclosure requirements for related-party transactions The business (Buyer): Extent of director liability index (0–10): Ability of - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important minority shareholders to sue and hold interested stock exchange. If the number of publicly traded companies listed on that directors liable for prejudicial related-party exchange is less than 10, or if there is no stock exchange in the economy, it transactions; Available legal remedies (damages, is assumed that Buyer is a large private company with multiple disgorgement of profits, fines, imprisonment, shareholders. rescission of the transaction) - Has a board of directors and a chief executive o cer (CEO) who may legally act on behalf of Buyer where permitted, even if this is not speci cally Ease of shareholder suits index (0–10): Access to required by law. internal corporate documents; Evidence - Has a supervisory board (applicable to economies with a two-tier board obtainable during trial and allocation of legal system) on which 60% of the shareholder-elected members have been expenses appointed by Mr. James, who is Buyer’s controlling shareholder and a Extent of conflict of interest regulation index member of Buyer’s board of directors. (0–10): Simple average of the extent of disclosure, - Has not adopted any bylaws or articles of association that di er from extent of director liability and ease of default minimum standards and does not follow any nonmandatory codes, shareholder indices principles, recommendations or guidelines relating to corporate Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10): governance. Shareholders’ rights and role in major corporate - Is a manufacturing company with its own distribution network. decisions Extent of ownership and control index (0-10): The transaction involves the following details: Governance safeguards protecting shareholders - Mr. James owns 60% of Buyer and elected two directors to Buyer’s ve- from undue board control and entrenchment member board. Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10): - Mr. James also owns 90% of Seller, a company that operates a chain of Corporate transparency on ownership stakes, retail hardware stores. Seller recently closed a large number of its stores. compensation, audits and financial prospects - Mr. James proposes that Buyer purchase Seller’s unused eet of trucks to expand Buyer’s distribution of its food products, a proposal to which Buyer Extent of shareholder governance index (0–10): agrees. The price is equal to 10% of Buyer’s assets and is higher than the Simple average of the extent of shareholders market value. rights, extent of ownership and control and - The proposed transaction is part of the company’s ordinary course of extent of corporate transparency indices business and is not outside the authority of the company. Strength of minority investor protection index - Buyer enters into the transaction. All required approvals are obtained, (0–10): Simple average of the extent of conflict of and all required disclosures made (that is, the transaction is not interest regulation and extent of shareholder fraudulent). governance indices - The transaction causes damages to Buyer. Shareholders sue Mr. James and the other parties that approved the transaction. OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0- 7 6.4 6.4 9.3 (New Zealand) 10) Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 5 6.4 6.4 Page 38   9.00 (Kazakhstan) and the other parties that approved the transaction. Doing Business 2018 Belgium OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0- 7 6.4 6.4 9.3 (New Zealand) 10) Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 5 6.4 6.4 9.00 (Kazakhstan) Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Belgium and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 75.00: United Kingdom (Rank: 10) 66.67: France (Rank: 33) 63.93: Regional Average (OECD high income) 60.00: Belgium (Rank: 57) 58.33: Germany (Rank: 62) 58.33: Netherlands (Rank: 62) Note: The ranking of economies on the strength of minority investor protections is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for protecting minority investors. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the extent of con ict of interest regulation index and the extent of shareholder governance index. Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Belgium and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Belgium 7 6 8 4 4 7 France 10 3 8 8 5 6 Germany 7 5 5 6 7 5 Netherlands 8 4 4 7 6 6 United Kingdom 8 7 10 5 7 8 OECD high income 7.3 5.6 6.5 5.2 6.3 7.4 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Sub-Indicator Score Extent of corporate transparency index (0­10) Extent of director liability index (0­10) Extent of disclosure index (0­10) Extent of ownership and control index (0­10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0­10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0­10) Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Belgium – Measure of Quality Answer Score Page 39   Extent of ownership and control index (0­10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0­10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0­10) Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Belgium – Measure of Quality Answer Score Extent of con ict of interest regulation index (0-10) 7 Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 8 Which corporate body is legally su cient to approve the Buyer-Seller transaction? (0-3) Board of 2.0 directors excluding interested members Must an external body review the terms of the transaction before it takes place? (0-1) Yes 1.0 Must Mr. James disclose his con ict of interest to the board of directors? (0-2) Full disclosure of 2.0 all material facts Must Buyer disclose the transaction in published periodic lings (annual reports)? (0-2) Disclosure on 2.0 the transaction and on the con ict of interest Must Buyer immediately disclose the transaction to the public and/or shareholders? (0- Disclosure on 1.0 2) the transaction only Extent of director liability index (0-10) 6 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital sue directly or derivatively Yes 1.0 for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0-1) Can shareholders hold the interested director liable for the damage the transaction Liable if negligent 1.0 caused to Buyer? (0-2) Can shareholders hold the other directors liable for the damage the transaction caused Liable if negligent 1.0 to Buyer (0-2) Must Mr. James pay damages for the harm caused to Buyer upon a successful claim by Yes 1.0 shareholders? (0-1) Must Mr. James repay pro ts made from the transaction upon a successful claim by Yes 1.0 shareholders? (0-1) Is Mr. James disquali ed or ned and imprisoned upon a successful claim by No 0.0 shareholders? (0-1) Can a court void the transaction upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-2) Voidable if 1.0 negligently concluded Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 7 Before suing can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the Yes 1.0 transaction documents? (0-1) Can the plainti obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) Any relevant 3.0 document Page 40   Before suing can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the Yes 1.0 transaction Doing 2018 (0-1) documents? Business Belgium Can the plainti obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) Any relevant 3.0 document Can the plainti request categories of documents from the defendant without Yes 1.0 identifying speci c ones? (0-1) Can the plainti directly question the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-2) No 0.0 Is the level of proof required for civil suits lower than that of criminal cases? (0-1) Yes 1.0 Can shareholder plainti s recover their legal expenses from the company? (0-2) Yes if successful 1.0 Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 5 Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) 4 Does the sale of 51% of Buyer's assets require shareholder approval? No 0.0 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital call for a meeting of No 0.0 shareholders? Must Buyer obtain its shareholders’ approval every time it issues new shares? Yes 1.0 Do shareholders automatically receive preemption rights every time Buyer issues new No 0.0 shares? Must shareholders approve the election and dismissal of the external auditor? Yes 1.0 Are changes to the rights of a class of shares only possible if the holders of the a ected Yes 1.0 shares approve? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, does the sale of 51% of its assets require No 0.0 member approval? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 10% call for a No 0.0 meeting of members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must all members consent to add a new Yes 1.0 member? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a member rst o er to sell their No 0.0 interest to the existing members before they can sell to non-members? Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) 4 Is it forbidden to appoint the same individual as CEO and chair of the board of No 0.0 directors? Must the board of directors include independent and nonexecutive board members? No 0.0 Can shareholders remove members of the board of directors without cause before the Yes 1.0 end of their term? Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising Yes 1.0 board members? Must a potential acquirer make a tender o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% Yes 1.0 of Buyer? Must Buyer pay declared dividends within a maximum period set by law? No 0.0 Page 41   Must a potential acquirer make a tender o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% Yes 1.0 of Buyer? Doing Business 2018 Belgium Must Buyer pay declared dividends within a maximum period set by law? No 0.0 Is a subsidiary prohibited from acquiring shares issued by its parent company? No 0.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer have a mechanism to resolve Yes 1.0 disagreements among members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a potential acquirer make a tender No 0.0 o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of Buyer? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer distribute pro ts within a No 0.0 maximum period set by law? Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) 7 Must Buyer disclose direct and indirect bene cial ownership stakes representing 5%? Yes 1.0 Must Buyer disclose information about board members’ primary employment and No 0.0 directorships in other companies? Must Buyer disclose the compensation of individual managers? Yes 1.0 Must a detailed notice of general meeting be sent 21 days before the meeting? Yes 1.0 Can shareholders representing 5% of Buyer’s share capital put items on the general Yes 1.0 meeting agenda? Must Buyer's annual nancial statements be audited by an external auditor? Yes 1.0 Must Buyer disclose its audit reports to the public? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must members meet at least once a year? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 5% put items on No 0.0 the meeting agenda? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer's annual nancial statements be No 0.0 audited by an external auditor? Paying Taxes This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as measures the administrative burden in paying taxes and contributions. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed on June 30, 2017 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2016 (January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016). Last year (Doing Business 2017) the scope of data collection was expanded to better understand the overall tax environment in an economy. The questionnaire was expanded to include new questions on post- ling processes: VAT refund and tax audit. The data shows where post ling processes and practices work e ciently and what drives the di erences in the overall tax compliance cost across economies. The new section covers both the legal framework and the administrative burden on businesses to comply with post ling processes. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Tax payments for a manufacturing company in Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory 2016 (number per year adjusted for electronic and contributions a medium size company must pay in a year, and measures joint ling and payment) the administrative burden of paying taxes, contributions and dealing with Page 42   post ling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of ling Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer's annual nancial statements be No 0.0 audited by an external auditor? Doing Business 2018 Belgium Paying Taxes This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as measures the administrative burden in paying taxes and contributions. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed on June 30, 2017 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2016 (January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016). Last year (Doing Business 2017) the scope of data collection was expanded to better understand the overall tax environment in an economy. The questionnaire was expanded to include new questions on post- ling processes: VAT refund and tax audit. The data shows where post ling processes and practices work e ciently and what drives the di erences in the overall tax compliance cost across economies. The new section covers both the legal framework and the administrative burden on businesses to comply with post ling processes. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Tax payments for a manufacturing company in Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory 2016 (number per year adjusted for electronic and contributions a medium size company must pay in a year, and measures joint ling and payment) the administrative burden of paying taxes, contributions and dealing with post ling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of ling Total number of taxes and contributions paid, and payments, time taken to comply with tax laws, time taken to comply including consumption taxes (value added tax, with the requirements of post ling processes and time waiting. sales tax or goods and service tax) Method and frequency of filing and payment To make data comparable across economies, several assumptions are used: Time required to comply with 3 major taxes - TaxpayerCo is a medium-size business that started operations on January (hours per year) 1, 2015. It produces ceramic flowerpots and sells them at retail. All taxes Collecting information, computing tax payable and contributions recorded are paid in the second year of operation Completing tax return, filing with agencies (calendar year 2016). Taxes and mandatory contributions are measured at all levels of government. Arranging payment or withholding Preparing separate tax accounting books, if The VAT refund process: required - In June 2016, TaxpayerCo. makes a large capital purchase: the value of the Total tax and contribution rate (% of pro t before machine is 65 times income per capita of the economy. Sales are equally all taxes) spread per month (1,050 times income per capita divided by 12) and cost of goods sold are equally expensed per month (875 times income per Profit or corporate income tax capita divided by 12). The machinery seller is registered for VAT and excess Social contributions, labor taxes paid by input VAT incurred in June will be fully recovered after four consecutive employer months if the VAT rate is the same for inputs, sales and the machine and Property and property transfer taxes the tax reporting period is every month. Input VAT will exceed Output VAT Dividend, capital gains, financial transactions in June 2016. taxes The corporate income tax audit process: Waste collection, vehicle, road and other taxes - An error in calculation of income tax liability (for example, use of incorrect tax depreciation rates, or incorrectly treating an expense as tax deductible) Post ling Index leads to an incorrect income tax return and a corporate income Time to comply with a VAT refund tax underpayment. TaxpayerCo. discovered the error and voluntarily Time to receive a VAT refund noti ed the tax authority. The value of the underpaid income tax liability is Time to comply with a corporate income tax audit 5% of the corporate income tax liability due. TaxpayerCo. submits corrected information after the deadline for submitting the annual tax Time to complete a corporate income tax audit return, but within the tax assessment period. OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Payments (number per year) 11 10.9 10.9 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Page 43   return, but within the tax assessment period. Doing Business 2018 Belgium OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Payments (number per year) 11 10.9 10.9 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Time (hours per year) 136 160.7 160.7 55 (Luxembourg) Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit) 57.1 40.1 40.1 18.47% (32 Economies) Postfiling index (0-100) 83.45 83.45 83.45 99.38 (Estonia) Figure – Paying Taxes in Belgium and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 87.59: Netherlands (Rank: 20) 86.70: United Kingdom (Rank: 23) 83.07: Regional Average (OECD high income) 82.14: Germany (Rank: 41) 78.55: France (Rank: 54) 77.69: Belgium (Rank: 59) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of paying taxes is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores on the ease of paying taxes. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the four component indicators – number of tax payments. time, total tax rate and post ling index – with a threshold and a nonlinear transformation applied to one of the component indicators, the total tax rate. The nonlinear distance to frontier for the total tax rate is equal to the distance to frontier for the total tax rate to the power of 0.8. The threshold is de ned as the total tax rate at the 15th percentile of the overall distribution for all years included in the analysis up to and including Doing Business 2015, which is 26.1%. All economies with a total tax rate below this threshold receive the same score as the economy at the threshold. Figure – Paying Taxes in Belgium and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 120 97.67 100 92.40 91.95 83.45 83.45 80 71.00 Index score 60 40 20 0 Belgium France Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Paying Taxes in Belgium Total tax and Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory contribution rate Notes on contribution (number) Payments (hours) tax rate Tax base (% of profit) TTR Page 44   Social security 1 online 40 varies gross salaries 46.17 Doing Business 2018 Belgium Figure – Paying Taxes in Belgium and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 120 97.67 100 92.40 91.95 83.45 83.45 80 71.00 Index score 60 40 20 0 Belgium France Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Paying Taxes in Belgium Total tax and Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory contribution rate Notes on contribution (number) Payments (hours) tax rate Tax base (% of profit) TTR Social security 1 online 40 varies gross salaries 46.17 contributions Corporate income tax 1 online 21 33.99% taxable profit 10.35 Tax on interest 0 27% interest income 0.69 included in other taxes Property tax 1 EUR fixed fee 0.44 9,000 depending on cadastral revenue Transport tax 1 EUR fixed fee 0.07 1,500 Municipal tax 1 EUR 750 fixed fee 0.04 Provincial tax 1 EUR 750 fixed fee 0.04 Regional tax 1 EUR 600 fixed fee 0.03 Stamp duty 1 EUR 7.5 0.00 small per page amount Employee paid - Social 0 13.07% gross salaries 0.00 withheld security contributions Employer holiday social 1 online varies 108% of gross 0.00 security contributions salaries (workers) Fuel tax 1 included in the 0.00 small fuel price amount Value added tax (VAT) 1 online 75 21% value added 0.00 not included Page 45   Totals 11 136 57.1 Fuel tax 1 included in the 0.00 small Doing Business 2018 Belgium fuel price amount Value added tax (VAT) 1 online 75 21% value added 0.00 not included Totals 11 136 57.1 Details – Paying Taxes in Belgium – Tax by Type Taxes by type Answer Profit tax (% of profit) 10.3 Labor tax and contributions (% of profit) 46.2 Other taxes (% of profit) 0.6 Details – Paying Taxes in Belgium – Measure of Quality Answer Score Post ling index (0-100) 83.45 VAT refunds Does VAT exist? Yes Does a VAT refund process exist per the case study? Yes Restrictions on VAT refund process None Percentage of cases exposed to a VAT audit (%) 50% - 74% Is there a mandatory carry forward period? No Time to comply with VAT refund (hours) 5.0 90 Time to obtain a VAT refund (weeks) 28.5 51.16 Corporate income tax audits Does corporate income tax exist? Yes Percentage of cases exposed to a corporate income tax audit (%) 0% - 24% Time to comply with a corporate income tax audit (hours) 5.5 92.66 Time to complete a corporate income tax audit (weeks) No tax audit per 100 case study scenario Notes: Names of taxes have been standardized. For instance income tax, pro t tax, tax on company's income are all named corporate income tax in this table. The hours for VAT include all the VAT and sales taxes applicable. The hours for Social Security include all the hours for labor taxes and mandatory contributions in general. The post ling index is the average of the scores on time to comply with VAT refund, time to obtain a VAT refund, time to comply with a corporate income tax audit and time to complete a corporate income tax audit. N/A = Not applicable. Page 46   The hours for Social Security include all the hours for labor taxes and mandatory contributions in general. The post ling index is the average of the scores on time to comply with VAT refund, time to obtain a VAT refund, time to comply with aDoing Business corporate 2018 income tax audit Belgium and time to complete a corporate income tax audit. N/A = Not applicable. Trading across Borders Doing Business records the time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods. Doing Business measures the time and cost (excluding tari s) associated with three sets of procedures—documentary compliance, border compliance and domestic transport—within the overall process of exporting or importing a shipment of goods. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. Given the importance of trade digitalization, in Doing Business 2018, the Trading across Borders questionnaire included research questions on the availability and status of implementation of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Single Window (SW) systems. With this information, Doing Business built a comprehensive dataset on the adoption and level of sophistication of electronic platforms in 190 economies. These data are not used to compute the distance to frontier score or ranking of the ease of doing business. The new dataset on EDI and SW systems is available here. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Documentary compliance To make the data comparable across economies, a few assumptions are made about the traded goods and the transactions: Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents during transport, clearance, inspections and port Time: Time is measured in hours, and 1 day is 24 hours (for example, 22 or border handling in origin economy days are recorded as 22×24=528 hours). If customs clearance takes 7.5 Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents hours, the data are recorded as is. Alternatively, suppose documents are required by destination economy and any transit submitted to a customs agency at 8:00a.m., are processed overnight and economies can be picked up at 8:00a.m. the next day. The time for customs clearance Covers all documents required by law and in would be recorded as 24 hours because the actual procedure took 24 practice, including electronic submissions of hours. information Border compliance Cost: Insurance cost and informal payments for which no receipt is issued are excluded from the costs recorded. Costs are reported in U.S. dollars. Customs clearance and inspections Contributors are asked to convert local currency into U.S. dollars based on Inspections by other agencies (if applied to more the exchange rate prevailing on the day they answer the questionnaire. than 20% of shipments) Contributors are private sector experts in international trade logistics and Handling and inspections that take place at the are informed about exchange rates. economy’s port or border Assumptions of the case study: - For all 190 economies covered by Doing Domestic transport Business, it is assumed a shipment is in a warehouse in the largest Loading or unloading of the shipment at the business city of the exporting economy and travels to a warehouse in the warehouse or port/border largest business city of the importing economy. - It is assumed each Transport between warehouse and port/border economy imports 15 metric tons of containerized auto parts (HS 8708) from its natural import partner—the economy from which it imports the Traffic delays and road police checks while shipment is en route largest value (price times quantity) of auto parts. It is assumed each economy exports the product of its comparative advantage (de ned by the largest export value) to its natural export partner—the economy that is the largest purchaser of this product. Shipment value is assumed to be $50,000. - The mode of transport is the one most widely used for the chosen export or import product and the trading partner, as is the seaport, or land border crossing. - All electronic information submissions requested by any government agency in connection with the shipment are considered to be documents obtained, prepared and submitted during the export or import process. - A port or border is a place (seaport, airport or land border crossing) where merchandise can enter or leave an economy. - Relevant government agencies include customs, port authorities, road police, border guards, standardization agencies, ministries or departments of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other government authorities. Page 47   a corporate income tax audit and time to complete a corporate income tax audit. N/A = Not applicable. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Trading across Borders Doing Business records the time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods. Doing Business measures the time and cost (excluding tari s) associated with three sets of procedures—documentary compliance, border compliance and domestic transport—within the overall process of exporting or importing a shipment of goods. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. Given the importance of trade digitalization, in Doing Business 2018, the Trading across Borders questionnaire included research questions on the availability and status of implementation of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Single Window (SW) systems. With this information, Doing Business built a comprehensive dataset on the adoption and level of sophistication of electronic platforms in 190 economies. These data are not used to compute the distance to frontier score or ranking of the ease of doing business. The new dataset on EDI and SW systems is available here. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Documentary compliance To make the data comparable across economies, a few assumptions are made about the traded goods and the transactions: Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents during transport, clearance, inspections and port Time: Time is measured in hours, and 1 day is 24 hours (for example, 22 or border handling in origin economy days are recorded as 22×24=528 hours). If customs clearance takes 7.5 Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents hours, the data are recorded as is. Alternatively, suppose documents are required by destination economy and any transit submitted to a customs agency at 8:00a.m., are processed overnight and economies can be picked up at 8:00a.m. the next day. The time for customs clearance Covers all documents required by law and in would be recorded as 24 hours because the actual procedure took 24 practice, including electronic submissions of hours. information Border compliance Cost: Insurance cost and informal payments for which no receipt is issued are excluded from the costs recorded. Costs are reported in U.S. dollars. Customs clearance and inspections Contributors are asked to convert local currency into U.S. dollars based on Inspections by other agencies (if applied to more the exchange rate prevailing on the day they answer the questionnaire. than 20% of shipments) Contributors are private sector experts in international trade logistics and Handling and inspections that take place at the are informed about exchange rates. economy’s port or border Assumptions of the case study: - For all 190 economies covered by Doing Domestic transport Business, it is assumed a shipment is in a warehouse in the largest Loading or unloading of the shipment at the business city of the exporting economy and travels to a warehouse in the warehouse or port/border largest business city of the importing economy. - It is assumed each Transport between warehouse and port/border economy imports 15 metric tons of containerized auto parts (HS 8708) from its natural import partner—the economy from which it imports the Traffic delays and road police checks while shipment is en route largest value (price times quantity) of auto parts. It is assumed each economy exports the product of its comparative advantage (de ned by the largest export value) to its natural export partner—the economy that is the largest purchaser of this product. Shipment value is assumed to be $50,000. - The mode of transport is the one most widely used for the chosen export or import product and the trading partner, as is the seaport, or land border crossing. - All electronic information submissions requested by any government agency in connection with the shipment are considered to be documents obtained, prepared and submitted during the export or import process. - A port or border is a place (seaport, airport or land border crossing) where merchandise can enter or leave an economy. - Relevant government agencies include customs, port authorities, road police, border guards, standardization agencies, ministries or departments of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other government authorities. Page 48   of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other Doing Business 2018 Belgium government authorities. OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Time to export: Border compliance (hours) 0 12.7 12.7 0 (17 Economies) Cost to export: Border compliance (USD) 0 149.9 149.9 0.00 (19 Economies) Time to export: Documentary compliance 1 2.4 2.4 1.0 (25 Economies) (hours) Cost to export: Documentary compliance (USD) 0 35.4 35.4 0.00 (19 Economies) Time to import: Border compliance (hours) 0 8.7 8.7 0.00 (21 Economies) Cost to import: Border compliance (USD) 0 111.6 111.6 0.00 (27 Economies) Time to import: Documentary compliance 1 3.5 3.5 1.0 (30 Economies) (hours) Cost to import: Documentary compliance (USD) 0 25.6 25.6 0.00 (30 Economies) Figure – Trading across Borders in Belgium and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 93.92: Regional Average (OECD high income) 93.76: United Kingdom (Rank: 28) 91.77: Germany (Rank: 39) 100.00: Belgium (Rank: 1) 100.00: France (Rank: 1) 100.00: Netherlands (Rank: 1) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of trading across borders is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for trading across borders. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the time and cost for documentary compliance and border compliance to export and import (domestic transport is not used for calculating the ranking). Figure – Trading across Borders in Belgium – Time and Cost Time Cost 1.2 1.2 1 1 1 1 0.8 0.8 Time (hours) Cost (USD) 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Export - Border Compliance Export - Documentary Compliance Import - Border Compliance Import - Documentary Compliance Page 49   Doing Business 2018 Belgium Figure – Trading across Borders in Belgium – Time and Cost Time Cost 1.2 1.2 1 1 1 1 0.8 0.8 Time (hours) Cost (USD) 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Export - Border Compliance Export - Documentary Compliance Import - Border Compliance Import - Documentary Compliance Details – Trading across Borders in Belgium Characteristics Export Import Product HS 87 : Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling-stock, and HS 8708: Parts and accessories of parts and accessories thereof motor vehicles Trade partner Germany Germany Border Belgium-Germany border crossing Belgium-Germany border crossing Distance (km) 125 125 Domestic transport 2 2 time (hours) Domestic transport 265 265 cost (USD) Details – Trading across Borders in Belgium – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete Associated Costs (hours) (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 0.0 0.0 Export: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Export: Port or border handling 0.0 0.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 0.0 0.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Import: Port or border handling 0.0 0.0 Details – Trading across Borders in Belgium – Trade Documents Export Import Page 50   cost (USD) Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Trading across Borders in Belgium – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete Associated Costs (hours) (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 0.0 0.0 Export: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Export: Port or border handling 0.0 0.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 0.0 0.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Import: Port or border handling 0.0 0.0 Details – Trading across Borders in Belgium – Trade Documents Export Import Commercial Invoice Commercial Invoice Packing List CMR waybill CMR Waybill Packing list Intrastat Intrastat Enforcing Contracts The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local rst-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and e ciency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to enforce a contract through the The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract courts (calendar days) between 2 domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes Time to file and serve the case the case from simple debt enforcement. Time for trial and to obtain the judgment To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses Time to enforce the judgment several assumptions about the case: Cost required to enforce a contract through the - The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller courts (% of claim) and Buyer), both located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 Attorney fees economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - The buyer orders custom-made goods, then fails to pay. Court fees - The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the Enforcement fees equivalent in local currency of USD 5,000, whichever is greater. Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) - The seller sues the buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases worth 200% of income per capita or $5,000. Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) - The seller requests a pretrial attachment to secure the claim. Case management (0-6) - The dispute on the quality of the goods requires an expert opinion. Court automation (0-4) - The judge decides in favor of the seller; there is no appeal. Page 51   Intrastat Intrastat Doing Business 2018 Belgium Enforcing Contracts The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local rst-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and e ciency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to enforce a contract through the The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract courts (calendar days) between 2 domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes Time to file and serve the case the case from simple debt enforcement. Time for trial and to obtain the judgment To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses Time to enforce the judgment several assumptions about the case: Cost required to enforce a contract through the - The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller courts (% of claim) and Buyer), both located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 Attorney fees economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - The buyer orders custom-made goods, then fails to pay. Court fees - The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the Enforcement fees equivalent in local currency of USD 5,000, whichever is greater. Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) - The seller sues the buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases worth 200% of income per capita or $5,000. Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) - The seller requests a pretrial attachment to secure the claim. Case management (0-6) - The dispute on the quality of the goods requires an expert opinion. Court automation (0-4) - The judge decides in favor of the seller; there is no appeal. Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) - The seller enforces the judgment through a public sale of the buyer’s movable assets. Standardized Case Claim value EUR 72,738.00 Court name Brussels Commercial Court City Covered Brussels OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Time (days) 505 577.8 577.8 164.00 (Singapore) Cost (% of claim value) 18.0 21.5 21.5 9.00 (Iceland) Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 8.0 11.0 11.0 15.50 (Australia) Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Belgium and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 73.04: France (Rank: 15) 71.32: Germany (Rank: 22) 68.69: United Kingdom (Rank: 31) Page 52   of judicial processes Quality Business Doing index (0-18) 2018 Belgium 8.0 11.0 11.0 15.50 (Australia) Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Belgium and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 73.04: France (Rank: 15) 71.32: Germany (Rank: 22) 68.69: United Kingdom (Rank: 31) 66.76: Regional Average (OECD high income) 64.25: Belgium (Rank: 52) 59.94: Netherlands (Rank: 69) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of enforcing contracts is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for enforcing contracts. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Belgium – Time and Cost Time Cost 700 45.7 50 600 577.8 Cost (% of claim value) 505 499 514 40 500 437 Time (days) 395 30 400 23.9 21.5 300 18.0 17.4 20 14.4 200 10 100 0 0 Belgium France Germany Netherlands OECD high income United Kingdom Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Belgium and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Belgium 2.5 1 0 4.5 France 2.5 3 1 4.5 Germany 3 1.5 2 4.5 Netherlands 1.5 0.5 2 3 United Kingdom 2 5 3.5 4.5 OECD high income 2.5 2.9 2 3.6 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Page 53   16 0 0 Belgium France Germany Netherlands OECD high income United Kingdom Doing Business 2018 Belgium Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Belgium and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Belgium 2.5 1 0 4.5 France 2.5 3 1 4.5 Germany 3 1.5 2 4.5 Netherlands 1.5 0.5 2 3 United Kingdom 2 5 3.5 4.5 OECD high income 2.5 2.9 2 3.6 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Sub-Indicator Score Alternative dispute resolution (0­3) Case management (0­6) Court automation (0­4) Court structure and proceedings (­1­5) Details – Enforcing Contracts in Belgium Indicator Time (days) 505 Filing and service 15 Trial and judgment 400 Enforcement of judgment 90 Cost (% of claim value) 18.0 Attorney fees 10 Court fees 5 Enforcement fees 3 Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 8.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 4.5 Case management (0-6) 1.0 Court automation (0-4) 0.0 Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 Details – Enforcing Contracts in Belgium – Measure of Quality Page 54   Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Enforcing Contracts in Belgium – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 8.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 4.5 1. Is there a court or division of a court dedicated solely to hearing commercial cases? Yes 1.5 2. Small claims court 1.5 2.a. Is there a small claims court or a fast-track procedure for small claims? Yes 2.b. If yes, is self-representation allowed? Yes 3. Is pretrial attachment available? Yes 1.0 4. Are new cases assigned randomly to judges? Yes, but manual 0.5 5. Does a woman's testimony carry the same evidentiary weight in court as a man's? Yes 0.0 Case management (0-6) 1.0 1. Time standards 0.0 1.a. Are there laws setting overall time standards for key court events in a civil case? Yes 1.b. If yes, are the time standards set for at least three court events? No 1.c. Are these time standards respected in more than 50% of cases? Yes 2. Adjournments 0.0 2.a. Does the law regulate the maximum number of adjournments that can be No granted? 2.b. Are adjournments limited to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances? No 2.c. If rules on adjournments exist, are they respected in more than 50% of cases? n.a. 3. Can two of the following four reports be generated about the competent court: (i) Yes 1.0 time to disposition report; (ii) clearance rate report; (iii) age of pending cases report; and (iv) single case progress report? 4. Is a pretrial conference among the case management techniques used before the No 0.0 competent court? 5. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court No 0.0 for use by judges? 6. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court No 0.0 for use by lawyers? Court automation (0-4) 0.0 1. Can the initial complaint be led electronically through a dedicated platform within No 0.0 the competent court? 2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims led before the No 0.0 competent court? Page 55   1. Can the initial complaint be led electronically through a dedicated platform within No 0.0 Businesscourt? the competent Doing 2018 Belgium 2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims led before the No 0.0 competent court? 3. Can court fees be paid electronically within the competent court? No 0.0 4. Publication of judgments 0.0 4.a Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at all levels made available to the No general public through publication in o cial gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? 4.b. Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at the appellate and supreme No court level made available to the general public through publication in o cial gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 1. Arbitration 1.5 1.a. Is domestic commercial arbitration governed by a consolidated law or Yes consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all its aspects? 1.b. Are there any commercial disputes—aside from those that deal with public No order or public policy—that cannot be submitted to arbitration? 1.c. Are valid arbitration clauses or agreements usually enforced by the courts? Yes 2. Mediation/Conciliation 1.0 2.a. Is voluntary mediation or conciliation available? Yes 2.b. Are mediation, conciliation or both governed by a consolidated law or Yes consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all their aspects? 2.c. Are there nancial incentives for parties to attempt mediation or conciliation (i.e., No if mediation or conciliation is successful, a refund of court ling fees, income tax credits or the like)? Resolving Insolvency Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate, which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings. To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors, Doing Business uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to recover debt (years) To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the case are Measured in calendar years used: Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s estate) suppliers. The hotel experiences nancial di culties. Page 56   Measured as percentage of estate value - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent if mediation or conciliation is successful, a refund of court ling fees, income tax credits or the like)? Doing Business 2018 Belgium Resolving Insolvency Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate, which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings. To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors, Doing Business uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to recover debt (years) To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the case are Measured in calendar years used: Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s estate) suppliers. The hotel experiences nancial di culties. Measured as percentage of estate value - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent Court fees in local currency of USD 200,000, whichever is greater. - The hotel has a loan from a domestic bank, secured by a mortgage over Fees of insolvency administrators the hotel’s real estate. The hotel cannot pay back the loan, but makes Lawyers’ fees enough money to operate otherwise. Assessors’ and auctioneers’ fees In addition, Doing Business evaluates the adequacy and integrity of the Other related fees existing legal framework applicable to liquidation and reorganization Outcome proceedings through the strength of insolvency framework index. The index tests whether economies adopted internationally accepted good Whether business continues operating as a going practices in four areas: commencement of proceedings, management of concern or business assets are sold piecemeal debtor’s assets, reorganization proceedings and creditor participation. Recovery rate for creditors Measures the cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors Outcome for the business (survival or not) determines the maximum value that can be recovered Official costs of the insolvency proceedings are deducted Depreciation of furniture is taken into account Present value of debt recovered Strength of insolvency framework index (0- 16) Sum of the scores of four component indices: Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) Management of debtor’s assets index (0-6) Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) Creditor participation index (0-4) OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 84.6 71.2 71.2 93.1 (Norway) Time (years) 0.9 1.7 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Page 57   Cost (% of estate) 3.5 9.1 9.1 1.00 (Norway) Creditor participation index (0-4) Doing Business 2018 Belgium OECD high OECD high Indicator Belgium income income Overall Best Performer Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 84.6 71.2 71.2 93.1 (Norway) Time (years) 0.9 1.7 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Cost (% of estate) 3.5 9.1 9.1 1.00 (Norway) Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going 1 .. .. .. concern) Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 11.5 12.1 12.1 15.00 (6 Economies) Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Belgium and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 90.27: Germany (Rank: 4) 84.22: Netherlands (Rank: 8) 81.46: Belgium (Rank: 11) 80.24: United Kingdom (Rank: 14) 76.12: Regional Average (OECD high income) 73.91: France (Rank: 28) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of resolving insolvency is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for resolving insolvency. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the recovery rate and the strength of insolvency framework index. Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Belgium – Time and Cost Time Cost 2 1.9 10 9.0 9.1 1.7 8.0 8 1.5 Cost (% of estate) 1.2 6.0 Time (years) 1.1 6 1.0 1 0.9 3.5 3.5 4 0.5 2 0 0 Belgium France Germany Netherlands OECD high income United Kingdom Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Belgium and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Belgium 6 2.5 2 1 Page 58   0 0 Belgium France Germany Netherlands OECD high income United Kingdom Doing Business 2018 Belgium Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Belgium and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Belgium 6 2.5 2 1 France 6 3 1 1 Germany 6 3 3 3 Netherlands 6 2.5 2 1 United Kingdom 5 3 2 1 OECD high income 5.4 2.8 2.3 1.9 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Sub-Indicator Score Management of debtor's assets index (0­6) Commencement of proceedings index (0­3) Creditor participation index (0­4) Reorganization proceedings index (0­3) Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Belgium and comparator economies – Recovery Rate Recovery Rate (cents on the dollar) 100 89.7 90 84.6 85.2 80.6 80 73.5 71.2 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Belgium France Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Resolving Insolvency in Belgium Indicator Answer Explanation Proceeding reorganization Mirage's management is obligated to commence insolvency proceedings within 1 month from the moment Mirage stops paying its debts (art. 9 of the Bankruptcy Law). Mirage's management will request judicial reorganization, because it wants to keep the company operating. This will allow Mirage's directors to remain in charge of the business during the proceedings and to continue operations and preserve employment. Once request for judicial reorganization is made, all enforcement proceedings will be stayed for 6 months. If necessary, the moratorium period may be extended by court decision to up to 12 months in total. During that time, Mirage will prepare and present a reorganization plan that will then need to be approved by a majority of the creditors representing more than 50% of the outstanding undisputed claims. If approved by the creditors and the Commercial Court, the reorganization plan will be binding on all creditors. The reorganization plan may involve the reduction and/or postponement of the claim of unsecured creditors. With respect to the secured creditor, the reorganization plan cannot provide for a reduction of its claim. Page 59   Belgium France Germany Netherlands United Kingdom OECD high income Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Resolving Insolvency in Belgium Indicator Answer Explanation Proceeding reorganization Mirage's management is obligated to commence insolvency proceedings within 1 month from the moment Mirage stops paying its debts (art. 9 of the Bankruptcy Law). Mirage's management will request judicial reorganization, because it wants to keep the company operating. This will allow Mirage's directors to remain in charge of the business during the proceedings and to continue operations and preserve employment. Once request for judicial reorganization is made, all enforcement proceedings will be stayed for 6 months. If necessary, the moratorium period may be extended by court decision to up to 12 months in total. During that time, Mirage will prepare and present a reorganization plan that will then need to be approved by a majority of the creditors representing more than 50% of the outstanding undisputed claims. If approved by the creditors and the Commercial Court, the reorganization plan will be binding on all creditors. The reorganization plan may involve the reduction and/or postponement of the claim of unsecured creditors. With respect to the secured creditor, the reorganization plan cannot provide for a reduction of its claim. However, it can provide for the suspension, without its express consent, of its rights (with regard to the principal amount) for a period of up to 24 months from the filing date of the petition, which period can be extended once for 12 months under certain conditions, without prejudice to the right of these creditors to receive interest on their claims. No other measures can be provided for in the reorganization plan without the secured creditors' express consent. If it is not possible to reach an agreement on the reorganization plan, it is always possible to convert the proceedings into a different reorganization scenario, being the court supervised transfer of the business in going concern. A reorganization with transfer of the business implies that the current owners and managers lose their business unless they are involved in the NewCo acquiring the business. Outcome going concern In case of successful reorganization, the hotel will continue operating. Once the reorganization plan is adopted and confirmed by the Commercial Court, Mirage's management will be able to continue operating the business as long as they satisfy their obligations under the plan. If the hotel is sold within the framework of a transfer of the business, it will continue operating in a new vehicle. Time (in years) 0.9 Mirage's management will file a request for initiation of judicial reorganization. Then a hearing before the Brussels Commercial Court will be held within 14 days of the application being made (article 24 of the Continuity Act). Within 8 days following the first hearing, the Commercial Court will decide on the opening of the reorganization proceedings and the duration of the moratorium period. The initial moratorium period may last maximum for 6 months and can be extended by court decision for another 6 months period. Except for very specific circumstances, it cannot be further extended. During the moratorium period, the debtor will draw up a list of all claims and securities in relation to those claims and submit it to the creditors within 14 days from the date when the moratorium is grated. Creditors review the information and, if there is any disagreement, it must be resolved in court. Within the said moratorium period, the reorganization plan must be approved by the creditors and, subsequently, by the Commercial Court. To be approved, the plan must be accepted by at least 50% of the debtors who, collectively, represent at least 50% of the total undisputed claims (in principal). If it is approved, the Commercial Court will sanction the approval. The moratorium period will lapse and the plan will enter into force. The term of the reorganization plan may not exceed five years as from its ratification by the court. Cost (% of 3.5 Major expenses will include attorneys' fees (1.5%), remuneration of other professionals estate) involved in the proceedings, such as accountants and assessors (1.6%), and court fees (0.4%). Recovery rate (cents on the 84.6 Page 60   dollar) estate) involved in the proceedings, such as accountants and assessors (1.6%), and court fees Doing Business 2018 Belgium(0.4%). Recovery rate (cents on the 84.6 dollar) Details – Resolving Insolvency in Belgium – Measure of Quality Answer Score Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 11.5 Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) 2.5 Page 61   dollar) Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Resolving Insolvency in Belgium – Measure of Quality Answer Score Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 11.5 Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) 2.5 What procedures are available to a DEBTOR when commencing insolvency (a) Debtor may 1.0 proceedings? le for both liquidation and reorganization Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to le for insolvency of the debtor? (b) Yes, but a 0.5 creditor may le for liquidation only What basis for commencement of the insolvency proceedings is allowed under the (a) Debtor is 1.0 insolvency framework? generally unable to pay its debts as they mature Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) 6.0 Does the insolvency framework allow the continuation of contracts supplying essential Yes 1.0 goods and services to the debtor? Does the insolvency framework allow the rejection by the debtor of overly burdensome Yes 1.0 contracts? Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of preferential transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of undervalued transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework provide for the possibility of the debtor obtaining credit Yes 1.0 after commencement of insolvency proceedings? Does the insolvency framework assign priority to post-commencement credit? (b) Yes over 1.0 ordinary unsecured creditors but not over secured creditors Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) 1.0 Which creditors vote on the proposed reorganization plan? (b) Only creditors 1.0 whose rights are a ected by the proposed plan Does the insolvency framework require that dissenting creditors in reorganization No 0.0 receive at least as much as what they would obtain in a liquidation? Are the creditors devided into classes for the purposes of voting on the reorganization No 0.0 plan, does each class vote separately and are creditors in the same class treated equally? Creditor participation index (0-4) 2.0 Page 62   Does the insolvency framework require that dissenting creditors in reorganization No 0.0 receive Doing at least as Business much as 2018 what they would obtain in a liquidation? Belgium Are the creditors devided into classes for the purposes of voting on the reorganization No 0.0 plan, does each class vote separately and are creditors in the same class treated equally? Creditor participation index (0-4) 2.0 Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for selection or No 0.0 appointment of the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for sale of substantial No 0.0 assets of the debtor? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to request Yes 1.0 information from the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to object to Yes 1.0 decisions accepting or rejecting creditors' claims? Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice”. Labor Market Regulation Doing Business presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. Detailed data collected on labor market regulation are available on the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/labor-market-regulation). The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions (i) whether xed-term contracts are prohibited for about the worker and the business are used. permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of xed-term contracts; (iii) length of the The worker: probationary period; (iv) minimum wage. - Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience. Working hours - Is a full-time employee. (i) maximum number of working days allowed per - Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory. week; (ii) premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime; (iii) whether there are The business: restrictions on work at night, work on a weekly rest - Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy). day and for overtime work; (iv) whether nonpregnant - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest and nonnursing women can work same night hours business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second as men; (v) length of paid annual leave. largest business city. - Has 60 employees. Redundancy rules - Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover (i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to rms that workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify are not party to them. and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant bene ts than those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective workers; (iii) whether law requires employer to bargaining agreements. reassign or retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment. Redundancy cost Page 63   (i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice”. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Labor Market Regulation Doing Business presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. Detailed data collected on labor market regulation are available on the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/labor-market-regulation). The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions (i) whether xed-term contracts are prohibited for about the worker and the business are used. permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of xed-term contracts; (iii) length of the The worker: probationary period; (iv) minimum wage. - Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience. Working hours - Is a full-time employee. (i) maximum number of working days allowed per - Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory. week; (ii) premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime; (iii) whether there are The business: restrictions on work at night, work on a weekly rest - Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy). day and for overtime work; (iv) whether nonpregnant - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest and nonnursing women can work same night hours business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second as men; (v) length of paid annual leave. largest business city. - Has 60 employees. Redundancy rules - Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover (i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to rms that workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify are not party to them. and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant bene ts than those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective workers; (iii) whether law requires employer to bargaining agreements. reassign or retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment. Redundancy cost (i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) severance payments due when terminating a redundant worker. Job quality (i) whether law mandates equal remuneration for work of equal value and nondiscrimination based on gender in hiring; (ii) whether law mandates paid or unpaid maternity leave; (iii) length of paid maternity leave; (iv) whether employees on maternity leave receive 100% of wages; (v) availability of ve fully paid days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Details – Labor Market Regulation in Belgium Answer Hiring Page 64   Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? No days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Doing Business 2018 Belgium Details – Labor Market Regulation in Belgium Answer Hiring Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? No Maximum length of a single xed-term contract (months) No limit Maximum length of xed-term contracts, including renewals (months) No limit Minimum wage applicable to the worker assumed in the case study (US$/month) 2280.1 Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker 0.4 Maximum length of probationary period (months) 0.0 Working hours Standard workday 7.6 Maximum number of working days per week 6.0 Premium for night work (% of hourly pay) 0.0 Premium for work on weekly rest day (% of hourly pay) 0.0 Premium for overtime work (% of hourly pay) 50.0 Restrictions on night work? Yes Whether nonpregnant and nonnursing women can work the same night hours as men Yes Restrictions on weekly holiday? Yes Restrictions on overtime work? No Paid annual leave for a worker with 1 year of tenure (working days) 20.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 5 years of tenure (working days) 20.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 10 years of tenure (working days) 20.0 Paid annual leave (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in working days) 20.0 Redundancy rules Dismissal due to redundancy allowed by law? Yes Third-party noti cation if one worker is dismissed? No Third-party approval if one worker is dismissed? No Third-party noti cation if nine workers are dismissed? No Third-party approval if nine workers are dismissed? No Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? No Page 65   Third-party Doing approval Business 2018 if nine workers are dismissed? Belgium No Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? No Priority rules for redundancies? No Priority rules for reemployment? No Redundancy cost Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 8.0 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 18.0 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 33.0 Notice period for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 19.7 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 0.0 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 0.0 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 0.0 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 0.0 Job quality Equal remuneration for work of equal value? Yes Gender nondiscrimination in hiring? Yes Paid or unpaid maternity leave mandated by law? Yes Minimum length of maternity leave (calendar days)? 105.0 Receive 100% of wages on maternity leave? No Five fully paid days of sick leave a year? Yes Unemployment protection after one year of employment? No Minimum contribution period for unemployment protection (months)? 14.4 Business Reforms in Belgium In the year ending June 1, 2017, 119 economies implemented 264 total reforms across the di erent areas measured by Doing Business. Doing Business has recorded more than 2,900 regulatory reforms making it easier to do business since 2004. Reforms inspired by Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are the reforms for Belgium implemented since Doing Business 2008. = Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more di cult to do business. DB2018 Paying Taxes: Belgium made paying taxes less costly by reducing the social security contributions rates paid by employers. DB2016 Registering Property: Belgium made transferring property easier by introducing electronic property registration. DB2015 Page 66   Resolving Insolvency: Belgium made resolving insolvency more di cult by establishing additional requirements for commencing Minimum contribution period for unemployment protection (months)? 14.4 Doing Business 2018 Belgium Business Reforms in Belgium In the year ending June 1, 2017, 119 economies implemented 264 total reforms across the di erent areas measured by Doing Business. Doing Business has recorded more than 2,900 regulatory reforms making it easier to do business since 2004. Reforms inspired by Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are the reforms for Belgium implemented since Doing Business 2008. = Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more di cult to do business. DB2018 Paying Taxes: Belgium made paying taxes less costly by reducing the social security contributions rates paid by employers. DB2016 Registering Property: Belgium made transferring property easier by introducing electronic property registration. DB2015 Resolving Insolvency: Belgium made resolving insolvency more di cult by establishing additional requirements for commencing reorganization proceedings, including the submission of documents veri ed by external parties. Labor Market Regulation: Belgium increased the notice period for redundancy dismissals. DB2012 Registering Property: Belgium made property registration quicker for entrepreneurs by setting time limits and implementing its “e-notariat” system. Trading across Borders: Belgium made trading across borders faster by improving its risk-based pro ling system for imports. Labor Market Regulation: Belgium increased the severance payment obligation. DB2011 Registering Property: Belgium’s capital city, Brussels, made it more di cult to transfer property by requiring a clean-soil certi cate. Resolving Insolvency: Belgium introduced a new law that will promote and facilitate the survival of viable businesses experiencing nancial di culties. DB2010 Registering Property: Belgium made transferring property easier by setting statutory time limits for some procedures. Paying Taxes: Belgium made paying taxes easier for companies by making electronic ling mandatory for medium-size businesses. DB2009 Enforcing Contracts: Belgium improved the process for enforcing contracts by establishing as a standard procedure the setting of binding time limits for the submission of written pleadings and by tightening deadlines for the delivery of expert opinions. DB2008 Starting a Business: Belgium made starting a business easier by making an electronic registration and publication system available to all notaries. This system introduced a single registration number as well as automatic publication in the state gazette of the incorporation notice. Page 67   available to all notaries. This system introduced a single registration number as well as automatic publication in the state gazette of the incorporation Doing Business notice. 2018 Belgium Page 68