ReTax - Rethinking Real Estate Taxation. (ReTax)

RETAX deals with one of the most crucial and longest-running issues concerning property taxation in Flanders, namely the re-estimation of the cadastral income (KI). The KI is an estimate of the annual net rental value of a building and serves several purposes in the tax systems of federal and regional authorities. Its main function, however, is that it forms the basis for the collection of property tax. The tax legislation requires that the existing KI should be recalculated every 10 years. Nevertheless, the last general estimate dates from 1975 dates, and no large-scale review has ever since then taken place. The growing discrepancy between the Kl and the actual market rent values causes various disruptions in the housing market and leads to unjust situations in which taxpayers who enjoy similar housing services are taxed differently.

The main objective of the RETAX project is to improve our knowledge regarding the tax on real estate in order to optimize its use.