Courts Hold That Notional Interest Deduction Does Not Require Substance

The Courts of Appeal of Antwerp and Liège are of the opinion that interposing a Belgian finance company is, as such, not abnormal even if the company holds one single loan. The receiving and granting of a loan, and the management thereof, is clearly an economic activity, and – given the magnitude of the loan – not of an abnormal nature. The notional interest deduction is not conditional upon a certain level of economic substance.