Four Ireland-based insurers helped brokers avoid tax
Four insurers based in Ireland are being investigated by Belgium authorities for allegedly paying €100m in commissions to Luxembourg bank accounts instead of paying it directly to Belgian brokers, the Irish Independent reports
Belgian brokers avoided paying close to €38m in tax. "The focus is on the brokers, but it is possible the Irish companies did things wrong," said Stefaan Huysentruyt, a spokesman for Belgium's state secretary for fraud investigations.
Mr Huysentruyt added that the Irish companies could not be named because the Belgian authorities didn't yet know if the insurers "were complicit" in the tax evasion.
He confirmed, however, that the four are a "mixture" of major Irish companies and international insurers that have bases in Ireland. "All four are still operating in the Belgian market," he added.
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