Coronavirus: NSSO: postponement of payment

Because of the Corona outbreak, the government has taken several measures. One of these measures taken on 20 March 2020 is the postponement of the payment of sums due to the NSSO until 15 December 2020.

On its website the NSSO gives more details of this new measure.

The measure taken on 6 March 2020 concerning amicable payment plans remains in force (see our infoflash of 12 March 2020) 

Two types of postponement

The measures concern two types of postponement:

1) Automatic postponement

The horeca, recreational and cultural sectors, as well as any company concerned by the compulsory closure (in accordance with the provisions of the Ministerial Orders of 13, 18 23 and 24 March 2020) will automatically benefit from this postponement (see our infoflash of 19 March 2020 for an analysis of the Ministerial Order of 18 March 2020).

Via its application Coronacrisis check postponement of payments to the NSSO (only in French and Dutch), the ONSS offers you, as of today, the possibility to check whether the postponement of payment has been granted to you with good reason.  Just enter your company number and you will get the answer immediately.

The application can be found here https://www.reportpaiementsonss.be.

If you think that you have wrongly benefited from a postponement, you can report this problem online to the NSSO by means of the electronic form provided. The NSSO will then examine the application, make the necessary corrections, if any, and inform you.

2) Postponement after prior declaration

• Companies that are not affected by a compulsory closure (as referred to in the Ministerial Orders of 13, 18, 23 and 24 March 2020) but which are closed because they are unable to comply with the health measures may obtain a postponement on the basis of a declaration of honour. 
• Companies which are not obliged to close and which, for reasons other than failure to comply with the health measures, have themselves decided to close completely.
  • As a result of the coronacrisis, some companies which are not obliged to close, but which closed anyway for reasons other than non-compliance with the health measures as they had to stop production and sales. So these companies are also completely closed down. An example is the closure of suppliers or the closure due to customers being closed.
  • These companies may also benefit from the postponement until 15 December on the basis of a declaration of honour.

The form is available on the portal website of the NSSO.

For companies that are not affected by a compulsory closure but whose economic activity is nevertheless sharply reduced for the second quarter of 2020, more precise instructions from the NSSO will follow. We will, of course, keep you informed of these.

3) Concept of ‘complete closure’

In all cases, ‘complete closure’ means that production and sales have stopped. This does not prevent a limited number of workers from still being active in the company for reasons of security, administration, necessary maintenance, etc.

What measure concerns you?

I. Companies concerned by the automatic postponement

The measure applies to companies in the following categories:

For the public employers NSSO (DmfA), the NSSO has drawn up a nominative list:

For public employers in the local sector (DmfAPPL), the determining criterion is the NACE code:

All shops and stores that are closed in accordance with the provisions of the Ministerial Orders of 13, 18 23 and 24 March 2020, with the exception of:

• food stores, including night stores;
• pet food stores;
• pharmacies;
• bookstores;
• gas stations and fuel delivery companies;

 II. Companies concerned by the postponement after prior declaration of honour

1. Non-essential companies as referred to in the Ministerial Orders of 13, 18, 23 and 24 March 2020, which are closed because they are unable to comply with the health measures stipulated in Article 2 of the said Ministerial Order, may also benefit from a postponement on the basis of a declaration of honour confirming that they are in this situation.
2. Companies which are not obliged to close and which, for reasons other than failure to comply with the health measures, have themselves decided to close completely.

As a result of the coronacrisis, some companies which are not obliged to close, but which closed anyway for reasons other than non-compliance with the health measures as they had to stop production and sales.

So these companies are also completely closed down. An example is the closure of suppliers or the closure due to customers being closed.

3. For companies that are not affected by a compulsory closure according to the stipulations of the Ministerial Orders of 13, 18, 23 and 24 March 2020, but whose economic activity is nevertheless sharply reduced for the second quarter of 2020, more precise instructions will follow.

The NSSO will organise the necessary checks afterwards.

 For what amounts due to the NSSO?

The postponement concerns all payments to be made since 20 March 2020.

So the following payments are understood:

• rectifications of contributions still to be paid;
• the monthly instalments of current amicable payment plans;
• the 3rd provision of the 1st quarter (payable on 5 April 2020);
• the balance of the 1rd quarter (payable on 30 April 2020);
• the annual vacation debit notice that is sent to employers as of 1 April 2020 and payable by 30 April 2020;
• the provisions of the 2nd quarter (payable on 5 May, 5 June and 5 July 2020);
• the balance of the 2nd quarter (payable on 31 July 2020).

The postponement of payment applies to all types of contributions collected by the NSSO (employer contributions, employee contributions and special contributions, including existence security contributions) and is valid until 15 December 2020.

Of course the obligation to submit the NSSO declarations within the set deadlines remains in force.

Practical arrangements

As said above, the companies that are not affected by a compulsory closure as referred to in the Ministerial Orders of 13, 18, 23 and 24 March 2020 but which are closed because they are unable to comply with the health measures and the companies which are not obliged to close but have decided themselves to close completely for reasons other than non-compliance with health measures, may obtain a postponement on the basis of a declaration of honour, the form for which is available on the portal site of the NSSO.

Application form/declaration of honour

By taking this step, you declare that your situation corresponds to the criteria defined to benefit from this postponement and that you are aware that the NSSO will carry out checks afterwards.

You must therefore ensure that the motivation for your application is sufficient and keep it.

In order to submit the declaration you must have a secure access for your company.

 How can you register?

The registration procedure is described in detail under the heading "Je souhaite traiter moi-même mes obligations administratives envers l'ONSS” on the following page of the portal website: https://www.socialsecurity.be/site_fr/employer/infos/employer_onss/registration_gen/register/register.htm (only in French, Dutch and German).

If you are affiliated to our Payroll Office, we invite you to get in touch with your Payroll Consultant and your Customer Accounting Consultant.

Source: www.socialsecurity.be.