Total number of control missions carried out

This table gives the number of control missions carried out in a calendar year. It also gives a breakdown by type of selection: The central selection includes taxpayers that the General Administration of Taxation selects centrally, on the basis of risk profiles (= control actions), to be audited. The operational services must carry out these controls (= the control missions). The General Administration of Taxation prefers centrally selected controls because these selections ensure a fair treatment of taxpayers from the same target group, both in the possibility of being controlled and in the way (approach) the control will be carried out. The General Administration of Taxation also launches control actions for which it is well aware that the degree of productivity and yield will be low. But this is perfectly justified because the search for productivity and efficiency are not the only goals that must be pursued when selecting the files to be checked. Declarations may also be subject to control in order to verify the correct application of new tax regulations or the evolution of taxpayers’ compliance. Local selection allows operational departments to select, on the basis of local knowledge, the files they consider to be productive. Regular analysis of the results of these local selections in turn improves the central selection. A control mission may cover several declarations or even several subjects (e.g. personal income tax and VAT). The number of control missions is decreasing as the workload per mission is higher. The increase in workload is linked to several factors: Improvement of the selection of productive files linked, inter alia, to the systematic analysis of previous feedback and the contribution of experts from tax offices to the creation of ‘risk profiles’. As a result, the number of prematurely closed non-productive cases decreases and the average burden increases. Introduction of new actions or profiles in recurrent actions where the workload per mission is higher due to the complexity and importance of the work to be carried out there. Following the coronavirus crisis in 2020, the General Tax Administration was forced to temporarily suspend contact with taxpayers. As a result, the control missions were closed later. When these activities were able to resume, it turned out that checking a return took longer than expected at the beginning of the year due to the special circumstances (notably the contact with taxpayers by Microsoft Teams). In 2016, the General Administration of Taxation adapted its structure in order to evolve towards an organization oriented towards target groups (individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises, large companies) and towards standardized working procedures (called "processes"). These processes make it possible to standardise the way of working. The purpose of the control process is, inter alia, to: confirm or refute the risks identified; carry out the inspection according to a predefined approach. The General Administration of Taxation is a target group-oriented organisation made up of three administrations: the Individual Administration; the Administration for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises; the Administration of Large Enterprises. There are a few exceptions: Until 30 June 2020, the Public Administration also had the Eupen Multipurpose Centre, which dealt with all cases in the German-speaking region: individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises and large enterprises. This centre was abolished on 1 July 2020. The files are now processed by the P Liège and PME Liège centres according to the nature of the taxpayers concerned. The Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Administration also includes: the Brussels 4 control centre, which handles Members’ files; the Centre Étranger which, until 30 June 2020, dealt with all the files of non-residents (natural persons and companies). On July 1, 2020, the name "Centre Étranger" was changed to "Centre PME Matières Spécifiques". This centre is responsible for: withholding tax and withholding tax for all taxpayers and for all non-residents; tax on non-residents; VAT for non-residents who are subject to VAT; taxes treated as income taxes; miscellaneous taxes.