A new legislation prevents the combination of the R&D tax credit and the wage tax exemption for researchers (amendment to article 289quater of the Belgian Income Tax Code). This new provision is applicable to financial years ending as from April 1, 2022.
The R&D tax credit is computed based on the amount of the eligible investments in R&D and patents.
The limitation rule will apply to the extent that the R&D tax credit is computed on capitalized salary expenses for which the wage tax exemption was claimed. The exempted wage tax will have to be deducted from the computation basis of the R&D tax credit.
This new limitation does not apply to the R&D investment deduction (unlike the R&D tax credit).