How to avoid double taxation on Irish (IBKR) interest? QFIE / code 1156 question
The ask: Has anyone successfully credited the 15% Irish withholding tax on IBKR interest against their Belgian tax? Which codes did you use, and was the QFIE accepted for privately-held capital?
Context:
- Belgian tax resident, individual (private, non-professional account).
- Hold cash with Interactive Brokers Ireland → earning credit interest.
- Submitted Form 8-3-6 (stamped by SPF Finances) → correctly reduced Irish withholding from 20% to the treaty rate of 15%.
- So 15% is being withheld in Ireland, and the interest is also taxable in Belgium at 30%.
The problem:
- Belgium = worldwide income → I declare the gross interest (code 1444).
- But the same income already suffered 15% in Ireland → double taxation.
- Ireland won't refund (15% is the correct treaty rate, nothing to reclaim there).
My questions:
- Is the QFIE / FBB (code 1156/2156) the right way to credit the Irish 15%?
- Article 285 CIR 92 seems to restrict the QFIE on interest to capital used for professional activity → does this mean private investors can't credit it?
- Anyone got the QFIE accepted by their controleur for private foreign interest?
- If refused → what did you do (objection, treaty-override argument, accountant)?
Thanks in advance! 🙏
FYI: The law is not clear. Two laws point in different directions:
- The treaty (Belgium–Ireland DTA, Art. 11): Ireland can tax the interest at max 15%, and Belgium must relieve the double taxation. Clear enough.
- Belgian domestic law (Art. 285 CIR 92): restricts the foreign tax credit (QFIE/FBB) on interest to capital used for a professional activity. Read literally, a private investor gets no credit → so you'd pay 15% in Ireland and 30% in Belgium on the same income.
So the "clarity" cuts the wrong way for private investors: the domestic rule seems to deny relief, while the treaty promises it. The open question is whether the treaty overrides the domestic restriction — that's contested, and it's why I'm asking if anyone has actually had the QFIE accepted for private foreign interest, or refused.If the law were truly clear in the taxpayer's favour, there'd be a simple "tick code 1156 and done." There isn't. Happy to be proven wrong with a concrete reference though 🙂