Belgian tax authorities want to keep an eye on all bank accounts

AFP/Archives – Fred TANNEAU

In Belgium, the idea of ​​spyware that would constantly monitor bank accounts to detect suspicious flows is being debated, and risks giving ideas to other countries… Faced with an urgent budget deficit of 16 billion euros, federal trainer Bart De Wever proposes to relax restrictions on tax access to accounts. Objective ? Collect part of the 8 to 12 billion euros that escape the State each year through tax fraud. But at what price for individual freedoms ?

As CNEWS explains, since 2022, Belgian banks have been transmitting the balance of all their customers' accounts to the Central Contact Point (CCP) of the National Bank. Currently, the tax authorities can only request this information if an anomaly is found in the tax returns, and only if the taxpayer refuses to cooperate. De Wever, leader of the Flemish conservatives (N-VA), wants to go further: software would automatically identify “suspicious” flows and trigger checks, without the account holder being informed. According to him, the data would remain “anonymous”, and only cases of justified suspicion would be investigated further.

Except that this radical plan is worrying well beyond financial circles. Some experts are warning against this automated and preventive access to bank accounts, which calls into question banking secrecy and the principle of the presumption of innocence. The idea of ​​monitoring all bank accounts, in the name of anti-fraud efficiency, is criticized for its potential for authoritarianism, as recalled by Het Laatste Nieuws, a Belgian media outlet that has consulted the proposal. 

The initiative, presented as a measure of tax fairness, once again raises the question of respect for privacy in a democracy. With this software, how far is the State prepared to go to fill its coffers, but above all, who will be able to ensure that it will not take advantage of it to monitor each citizen ?

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