Registration duties are a tax imposed by the state when a deed or a document is recorded in a register.
These are some examples of the deeds and documents which must be recorded:
- notarial acts
- leases
- deeds and reports of court bailiffs
- the decisions and judgements of Belgian courts and tribunals
- deeds relating to real estate situated in Belgium
- deeds entered into abroad providing for the acquisition of assets by Belgian companies with legal personality
- etc.
Registration involves:
- the payment of a tax (registration duties)
- the attribution of a "certain" date to acts entered into privately (i.e. without the intervention of a notary)
- the collection of information about persons and their assets. On the basis of this data, the administration may, in some cases, supply certain information. For example, the competent office can provide information about who owns a given building and on what basis.
Evidence of registration is provided by a note placed on the deed or document at the time of registration. This note includes: the office, the date of registration, the register reference, the number of pages and amendments to the deed, plus the sums received.
More info about registration duties on the website of FPS Finances in French or Dutch