A special tax on diamonds earned the State 68.4 million euros in 2017, beating a budget forecast of 50 million euros and dwarfing 2016’s tally of 51.2 million euros, De Standaard and de Gazet van Antwerpen dailies reported on Monday.
Under the “Carat tax”, as it is called, diamond companies pay the normal corporate taxes, which amounted to 33.99% in 2017, but pay only 0.55% to 2.1% of their gross turnover, as a result of the various deductions they are awarded.
Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt (New Flemish Alliance) said the final amount for last year may even be higher since the figure of 68.4 million euros relates only to advance payments by the diamond companies.
In the past, the diamond sector contributed only about 20 million euros per year to the Treasury.
