Le nouveau régime belge de taxation de l'économie collaborative, un tremplin à l'entrepreneuriat ?

Abstract

During the last decade, the economy has been disrupted. The technological breakthrough and the recession of 2008 led to the emergence of the collaborative economy. This new phenomenon is facing a shadow area regarding taxation. However, a European goal is to abolish the undeclared work. To answer this query, the Belgian government implemented a new tax regulation on the collaborative economy in July 2016. Besides this objective, the European Commission is also willing to strengthen entrepreneurs. This aim is also supported by the Belgian government. The increase of entrepreneurs will drive up the number of self-employment. This will boost the employment and therefore economic growth. This new regulation has been created to improve processes and obligations with respect to entrepreneur’s taxation. Nevertheless, a new regulation or a new change always has consequences. Questions related to unfair competition, social protection, and treatment of unemployed workers will be raised. This master thesis aims to answer the question: “The new Belgian taxation of sharing economy, a springboard to entrepreneurship? ”. This question will be assessed theoretically. Most aspects and consequences will be studied. In this part, a quick review of the actions taken by other countries regarding taxation of the collaborative economy will be carried out. Afterwards, the opinion of several experts will be enquired. The final objectives are, first, to reconcile the theoretical and practical parts, second, to provide an overview of the current state of the collaborative economy and its entrepreneurship development’s goal, and finally to set guidelines and perspectives regarding the future.