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Opinion - By Bruno COLMANT, Ph.D., Member of the Belgian Royal Academy - Certified accountant and tax adviser (ITAA)
The taxation of capital gains, slated for implementation in 2026, will be a nightmare, particularly for unlisted companies—namely, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To tax a capital gain, you need a sale price and, more crucially, an estimated starting value. Unlike a publicly listed stock, this starting value doesn’t exist for an SME (or at least isn’t indisputable). The book value is irrelevant since it fails to account for future earnings prospects, intangible assets (like goodwill, brand value, or reputation), or even a revaluation of certain assets.
As a result, the tax administration is venturing into an exercise...
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