Our integrated services

Find out how we can help

Real estate players need to make sure they’re fit for the future and success will depend on having global networks, specialist expertise and innovation, cost management and scale, as well as people that suit your strategic objectives.

Explore our Real Estate integrated services

Accounting & tax reporting

In today’s world, regulatory and compliance demands on Real Estate businesses are many and varied. The need for efficient and transparent accounting and tax records that comply with the multitude of rules and regulations applied in different jurisdictions by different authorities can place a great pressure on limited in-house resources. PwC’s Real Estate professionals are uniquely placed to help you stay in control of all your statutory and tax requirements, while providing greater insight into your financial and tax data.


How we can help?

1. Quality  & Expertise

Increasingly complex statutory, accounting and tax regulatory standards: 

  • An experienced RE team keeping track of the latest and upcoming legislative changes 
  • Driving continuous improvement and delivering insights to support your core business
2. Process and technology

Efficient and transparent reporting to the group:

  • Use of secure technologies and automation to improve efficiency and controls
  • Accurate and timely group reporting for consolidation purposes
3. One-stop shop

Managing different parties:

  • A dedicated team to coordinate with all stakeholders (headquarters, property managers, tax advisors, lawyers, auditors, tax authorities, ...)
  • Gateway to the right PwC subject-matter-experts
4. Efficient compliance

Complying with all local requirements:

  • Produce timely and accurate returns and filings with full audit trail towards authorities 
  • Avoid administrative burden in order to focus on core business and competences

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PwC's Accounting & Tax Reporting team can help you in managing the statutory and tax filings of your Belgian real estate investment ensuring full compliance with all local requirements.

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Assurance


Increase confidence in your financial information

In the current turbulent times, real estate industry stakeholders need high quality and reliable financial information to make optimal business decisions.

Our real estate assurance team can provide you with the required attestations that will create the necessary confidence in your financial information

How our real estate assurance team can help

Our experienced professionals can help you navigate the intricacies of all your auditing, accounting, and reporting needs by:

  • Providing accounting treatments to handle a wide range of complex transactions
  • Helping you improve your financial reporting processes
  • Providing assurance on your financial information
  • Assisting you with IFRS reporting and other forms of regulatory compliance

Legal

Our real estate legal services help you lay the foundations for success

Together with our real estate colleagues specialising in tax, valuations and finance, the real estate legal team can help you create value through:

  • Real estate fund design and structuring.
  • Acquisition and finance structuring.
  • Contract drafting (e.g. leases, sale and leaseback arrangements, and construction agreements.)
  • Advising on financial and operational leasing, and drafting the documents.
  • Deal negotiation and transaction assistance including bid support, vendor and buyer due diligence, and contract drafting.
  • Corporate law advice including choosing the most appropriate legal vehicle, joint venture setup, optimisation of dividend distribution schemes and governance.

Structuring

Structuring your real estate investments in a complex world

The world has changed. It’s not only tax or financial constraints that impact on structuring. Regulatory, legal and ethical rules must also be taken into account.
European, and especially, Belgian tax law is continually changing. Governments are looking at ways to cut deficits and real estate is not immune.

New tax measures can have a direct impact on investments as well as their holding or financing structures. This is why it’s so important to future proof investment structures to bring certainty and create flexibility to easily adapt to future tax changes.

Our real estate structuring team can help you with:

Real Estate fund design and structuring (investment and investor perspective).

Financial and cash repatriation modelling.

Real estate portfolio review/restructuring.

Risk and cost-control reviews.

Optimisation of property-related taxes.

Cost cutting through VAT optimisation.

Optimisation/securitisation of tax assets.

Tax health checks.

Transfer pricing compliance reviews.

Estate, gift and inheritance tax planning.

Tax regularisation and dispute resolution assistance.

Operational efficiency and sustainability.       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find out how PwC can help you get your investments on the right track and minimise tax leakage.

Hot topics

The new Belgian anti-abuse provisions hit the real estate sector hard

The general anti-abuse provision of article 344, §1 BITC, as amended by the law of 29 March 2012, states that a legal deed (or a whole of legal deeds) is not opposable towards the tax authorities if the tax authorities demonstrate that there has been an abuse of the tax system.

An abuse of the tax system is defined as the wilful avoidance of taxation by legally structuring a transaction in such a way as to evade paying taxes when transactions of a similar nature are generally liable to taxation. In cases of suspected tax evasion, the burden of proof to demonstrate legitimate business grounds for using the structure in question lies with the taxpayer.

As a consequence of this new provision, traditional acquisition structures are no longer possible or have seen their scope of use severely restricted. For instance, the well-known ‘split sales structure’ or even some types of share deals could now fall foul of the law.

Professional advice is thus strongly recommended if you want to peace of mind for your real estate investments

Transactions

Global transactions expertise at your fingertips

With more than 3,000 dedicated specialists in our global transaction services business, 75 of whom are based in Belgium, we bring a unique combination of financial, commercial and operational insight to every deal.

Our dedicated real estate specialists support clients through every step of a deal and also assist real estate companies with finding the appropriate funding structure calling on our debt advisory and financial restructuring expertise.

Our real estate transactions team can help you with:

Acquisition and vendor due diligence.

Commercial and operational due diligence.

Vendor assistance.

Debt advisory.

Financial & business modelling.

Assistance in sale & lease back operations.

Deal negotiation.

Share & purchase agreements (closing mechanisms).

Financial restructuring. 

Valuation

International real estate valuations expertise, local market knowledge

Our valuations are executed in accordance with the practice statements described in the Red Book of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and by its members. This means you can be sure that your valuations are in line with global best practice.

We also understand that the value of real estate can vary significantly depending on the country or the city where assets are located. That’s why our local market knowledge and experience can bring you even greater certainty.

Acting for open-ended or closed-ended funds; M&A players; corporate clients in the context of restructurings, and taking into account IFRS accounting and fiscal optimisation, we can help you with:

External and independent valuations for REIT vehicles, funds, quoted/non-quoted companies.

Statutory external and independent valuations.

Valuations in the framework of restructurings, investments and divestments.

VAT services

VAT optimisation for real estate assets – value added to your transaction

Ticking all the right boxes for real estate VAT is all about compliance and control. But making your real estate VAT strategy a business enhancer requires passion and perseverance. We cover all the bases to add value to your investment!

Our real estate VAT specialists have a vast amount of experience in VAT optimisation for both traditional and non-traditional real estate assets in both the public and private sectors. Our experience covers a range of assets including commercial and residential real estate, brownfield developments, energy production units and PPP projects.

Our real estate VAT specialists can help you with:

health checks

opportunity checks

day-to-day VAT compliance

VAT rate planning

up-front structuring and advice

 

 

 

 

 

  • We take a multidisciplinary approach to help you design, secure and implement the optimal real estate VAT model for your company – because every client is different.

Hot topics

VAT: business centres

Offices combining integrated service provision are on the up. A VAT efficient alternative to classic office rental or a passing trend?

VAT: from office to residential

Why pay 21% VAT when converting office space to residential when you can pay 6%?