Tax authorities in Belgium "are stepping up their investigations into domestic football following unannounced inspections at the Belgian FA and the Pro League," according to Samindra Kunti of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. The BBI, the administrative body for special tax investigation, "has been working extra shifts to try and get Belgian football in line with its legal tax obligations." The BBI discovered that "several clubs from the Belgian top-flight, the Pro League, had not paid a penny of the levied tax since 2008." The local tax authorities "were dismayed about the discovery as it concerned a lump sum of several millions of euros." In Belgium, some football clubs "operate as legal non-profit organisations, but they have to pay 15% tax on TV revenue." Telenet and Belgacom "bought the rights to broadcast live matches of the Jupiler Pro League." The authorities "have been mediating with the Belgian top-flight clubs for a year and a half to seek payment of the tax debt." Club Brugge, AA Gent and Waasland-Beveren "are among the clubs to have made a deal with the tax authorities" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 3/27).
