Luxembourg VAT 2026: what actually changes
No movement on the four rates. The deadline that actually affects a Luxembourg retailer or online seller comes from France, not the Grand Duchy.
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No movement on the four rates. The deadline that actually affects a Luxembourg retailer or online seller comes from France, not the Grand Duchy.
Article 166 LIR remains solid. What is lost on audit is the ability to show the company held, decided and bore the risk.
Confusing the tax threshold with the social security threshold is the costliest payroll error. They are independent, and one is crossed without the other.
A "valid" VIES answer only holds for the moment you queried it. What defends an audit is the record you kept of that query.
A PDF sent by email does not meet the e-invoicing obligation. The required format is XML, transmitted over the Peppol network, for any company invoicing a Luxembourg public body.
FAIA is never filed spontaneously. The obligation is one of capability, which makes it trickier than a deadline: it only surfaces when it is too late to prepare.
The PCN has seven classes, not eight. The regulation allows day-to-day bookkeeping outside the standard format: the constraint applies at filing, which catches out groups running an in-house chart.
An invoice fully compliant on VAT can still breach company law. The two sets of particulars answer to different authorities and carry different consequences.
The reverse charge is not an exemption. The transaction is taxed, just not by you. Treating it as out of scope produces a false return even though net VAT is nil.
An ERP that performs well elsewhere can fail all four Luxembourg requirements at once. That is the most common scenario among subsidiaries of foreign groups.
Between Luxembourg private businesses, a PDF invoice is still lawful today. A bill tabled on 30 July 2026 sets out to change that, on a timetable not yet settled.
The minimum net wealth tax in Luxembourg now turns on a single figure: the balance sheet total. A dormant, loss-making company still pays it.
The Luxembourg corporate income tax rate is 14% or 16%, but that is never what a company pays. Two layers sit on top, and one band is taxed at 30%.
Municipal business tax in Luxembourg is not a corporate income tax surcharge: it has its own base, its own allowance and a rate set municipality by municipality. Calculation, 2026 rates and allocation.
Participation exemption recapture makes a capital gain taxable even though the parent-subsidiary regime covers it. It is prepared year by year, not on the day of the sale.
The participation exemption opt-out has been available since 2025, participation by participation, where loss carryforwards approach their limit.
The net wealth tax reduction in Luxembourg trades five euros of locked reserve for one euro of tax saved. The cap, the timing and the traps of the five-year period.
Dividend withholding tax in Luxembourg takes 15% of the gross amount distributed, unless an exemption applies. Conditions, the eight-day deadline and where it disappears.
Accounting for dividends received in Luxembourg follows the subsidiary's distribution decision, never the transfer date. Financial year, profit and loss captions and the twelve-month test.
Impairment of participations in Luxembourg is required as soon as the depreciation is expected to be lasting. Trigger, notes disclosure, mandatory reversal and the deferred tax cost.
Intra-group loan interest accruals in Luxembourg go on the balance sheet even where nothing is paid. Period allocation, arm's length rate, the article 168bis cap and symmetry between lender and borrower.
Company size thresholds in Luxembourg drive the balance sheet layout, the content of the notes and the statutory audit. Amounts set by the Grand-Ducal Regulation of 25 October 2024, the repetition criterion and newly incorporated companies.
Late filing of annual accounts in Luxembourg follows a graduated ladder of sanctions, from a 50 euro surcharge to being struck off the register. Seven-month deadline, tiers of increased fees, the register manager's penalty payment and administrative dissolution without liquidation.
The form 500 corporate tax return in Luxembourg brings three taxes together on a single form, filed by 31 December of the following year. Who files, calendar, MyGuichet filing, annexes and what a late return costs.
Quarterly tax advances in Luxembourg do not follow the current year's result: they reproduce a quarter of the latest assessment. A company whose profit collapses keeps paying on the old basis.
The register of beneficial owners in Luxembourg is filed within one month of the event, under a criminal fine of 1,250 to 1,250,000 euros.
Every Luxembourg company files annual accounts with the RCS through the eCDF platform within seven months of year-end. Deadlines, LuxGAAP format and penalties explained.
The eCDF format is mandatory for filing annual accounts and tax returns. How it works, the standard chart of accounts (PCN) and key pitfalls.
The SARL-S lets you start with €1 of capital, without a notarial deed, reserved for individuals. The classic SARL offers more flexibility. A side-by-side comparison.
The SOPARFI is a commercial company usable internationally with participation exemption; the SPF is reserved for passive private-wealth management. The key differences.
Without real economic substance (directors, decisions, local accounts), a Luxembourg holding risks losing tax benefits. ATAD requirements in practice.
Dissolution, appointment of the liquidator, liquidation auditor's report, then closure: the sequence of a voluntary liquidation and its timeline.
The RAIF is not approved directly by the CSSF but through an AIFM; the SIF and SICAR are supervised. A regulatory, tax and operational comparison.
Self-employed, company, SME or group: accounting fee ranges in Luxembourg by turnover and transaction volume, with a simulator.
Recovering trial balances, ledgers, eCDF access and filing continuity: how to switch firm without disruption, even mid-year.
Set up, establish and run your Luxembourg company, without bouncing between providers.
LuxGAAP bookkeeping, reconciliations, closing work, annual accounts, eCDF validation and RCS filing. For SARL, SARL-S, SA, holdings, SOPARFI, SMEs and groups.
Tax returns, VAT, payroll and tax incentives, on time, at the right rate.
Structuring participation holding and private wealth: SOPARFI, SPF, holding, family office.
An outsourced CFO: reporting, management control, treasury, forecasting.
Structuring and administering a fund: RAIF, SIF, SICAR, SCSp, NAV, fund accounting, AIFM.
Directors, substance and corporate secretarial for solid Luxembourg governance.
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