Fiscale bemiddeling in België: een curiosum?

Abstract

Wendy Hensen analyzes the current Belgian legislation on tax mediation from the perspective of the traditional mediation doctrine. This legislation is in no way connected to the general set of rules on mediation incorporated into the Judicial Code. The question arises whether an internal comparative study between the two separate schemes can shed more light on potential bottlenecks in the current regulation. A comparison reveals significant differences in regard to the importance attributed to certain key elements of mediation, namely the principles of voluntary participation, confidentiality, party self-determination as well as the involvement of an independent and impartial third party who uses mediation methods and techniques. The customary interpretation and understanding of the concept ‘mediation’ apparently doesn’t apply to tax mediation. A brief overview of the Dutch mediation practice in fiscal affairs shows that a more holistic approach, in respect of the aforementioned principles, is nonetheless possible.