Technology:

Magazine / July 2015

The predictive analysis

of KPMG and McLaren

Living in a state

of cyber war

Kathleen Verhelst, a business

woman in a man’s industry

Technology:

hot topic for companies

and governments

THE KPMG DIFFERENCE

Dear valued reader,

As we enter the warm summer days, we bring

you inspiring reading, material that is easy to

digest whether in your ofﬁce or relaxing on a

sun-soaked terrace.

In this ﬁrst electronic version of the KPMG

Difference, you will discover more about cyber

attacks, the link between KPMG and McLaren,

the future of the transport and logistics sector,

and the source of inspiration for top business

woman Kathleen Verhelst.

We hope you enjoy and have

a fantastic summer!

Ingrid Stoffels

Marketing Director

SUMMARY

JULY 2015

The link between KPMG and Formula 1

: predictive analysis

To a more cost-effective transport and logistics sector

Living in a state of cyber war

IT-outsourcing: more work required on added value

Kathleen Verhelst, a business woman in a man’s industry

KPMG organizes ﬁrst edition of the European Golf tournament “KPMG Trophy”

Tax Corner

07. EU’s Digital Single Market: VAT initiatives for cross-border e-commerce

08. New: Foreign bank accounts must be reported to the CPC

09. Does your webshop comply with the current legislation?

Public Sector Challenge

10. Transformation to an information-driven government

11. ‘Only Once’: towards a more efﬁcient and more effective government

12. The ‘Servant of the People’: the power of integrity in politics and government

01.

02.

03.

04.

05.

06.

KPMG & FORMULA 1

KPMG and Formula 1

predictive analysis

Perhaps you are a F1

fan and already noticed the KPMG logo on the

McLaren Honda F1 cars and the racing suits of Jenson Button or Fernando

Alonso. So what is the link between KPMG and McLaren?

In November of last year, McLaren Technology Group and KPMG UK have

announced a strategic alliance where the predictive analytics and technology of

cLaren Applied Technologies (“MAT”, a subsidiary of McLaren Technology Group)

will be applied to the audit and advisory services of KPMG UK. Both companies

signed a 10 year agreement where KPMG becomes a “Pioneer Innovation

Partner” of the McLaren Technology Group and will also sponsor the McLaren

Honda F1 team. Hence the KPMG logo on the cars and the racing suits.

Predictive analysis

But what is this predictive analysis, or predictive modeling, all about?

In essence it is based on statistical techniques to analyze patterns

in current and historical data sets to make predictions about the

future and be able to take “the right” decisions upfront. In the

case of McLaren Honda F1, huge amounts of data are produced

by sensors and telemetry on the race cars and are transmitted,

collected, analyzed, and interpreted in fractions of seconds

allowing the team managers and racing engineers to take

decisions and to adapt the racing strategy for the drivers. In

other words, this is all about decision taking by means of real

time forecasting and what-if scenarios that could mean the

difference between winning or losing … in split seconds.

Dirk Bruyndonckx

Senior Manager Advisor,

KPMG Advisory

T: +32 (0)3 821 19 40

E: dbruyndonckx@kpmg.com

KPMG & FORMULA 1

From F1

to other businesses

An evaluation of MAT’s highly specialized expertise in data analysis, simulations,

and decision support illustrates that its knowledge can also be applied in

business outside the race track. MAT has vast experience in the pharmaceutical

industry, healthcare monitoring, energy, transportation, air trafﬁc scheduling,

credit scoring, and fraud detection.

The combination of the expertise of both companies - McLaren in predictive

analytics, high performance design, and technology development, and KPMG

in ﬁnancial audit, tax management, risk management, and management

consulting – will allow them to develop new services and to better serve their

existing and future clients. KPMG will, for example, be able to provide ﬁnancial

simulations to its client’s showing how changes in cash ﬂow, interest rates or

depreciations will affect their revenue. Or calculate the impact of changes to

the supply chain and other logistic processes. This is all to the beneﬁt of the

client, allowing them to make better, well supported, and timely decisions in

much shorter periods of time and overall to enhance the performance of their

core business operations.

F1 and Big Data

Each F1 car is equipped with 150 to 300 sensors (this varies from track to track

and even from testing to qualifying to the race itself) generating huge amounts

of data (up to 10GB of compressed data per car per race weekend) that is

being analyzed in real time by the engineers at the race track and at the team’s

headquarters. Their conclusions are communicated back to the team to allow

them to make the right decisions regarding pit stops, tire changes, and so on.

This way of working with big data combined with predictive analysis has evolved

to a situation where the best possible racing conditions can be calculated

based on “live” data. For this, not only the racing weekend counts. The car

conﬁgurations and strategies, track information, and historical data from past

races are also used to run simulations. And during the weekend new live data

is being fed into the model to run further simulations and to further optimize

the race strategy.

KPMG & FORMULA 1

Why KPMG

So what is the intention since at ﬁrst sight these are two completely different

worlds? KPMG and McLaren are both specialists in their own habitat but

want to create new opportunities by combining their own speciﬁc expertise

and knowledge. Our alliance fuses together the deep business and industry

excellence of KPMG with McLaren’s engineering, design and predictive analytics

skills. Together KPMG and McLaren will be looking at solving business issues

from a different viewpoint enabling our clients to rethink their biggest operational

challenges. It’s a powerful new capability designed to transform the way we

do business and unlock new levels of performance, whether that’s optimising

complex processes or simulating outcomes to enhance decision making capability.

MAT has established itself amongst others as a market leader

for telemetry and computerized engine control systems. Its ECU

solution (Electronic Control Unit) has been selected by the FIA (the

Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) and is used by all F1

teams in all their F1 cars. It is also used in other top notch racing

competitions such as the American Nascar Sprint Cup and the

Indycar Series.

McLaren: supplier to all F1

race cars

TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS

The road to a more

cost-effective transport

and logistics sector

Research by KPMG in Belgium shows that nowadays, companies in the

transport and logistics sector are under more pressure than ever before. They

have to contend with squeezed operating margins, ﬂuctuating fuel prices, and

huge uncertainty on the demand side. That is why transport and logistics

ﬁrms need to conduct a thorough analysis of their activities, and then make a

basic strategic choice: either remain small and specialized, or grow (including

outsourcing) into a full service logistics provider.

Before we can really talk about making strategic choices, it is very

important to have a good understanding of the cost price of products,

services, and processes.

Correct allocation of indirect costs

Indirect costs have risen considerably in recent years. Therefore, it is

recommended to carry out a thorough analysis of the main elements

that give rise to these indirect costs. That is why it is often useful

to put speciﬁc project costs, dispatching costs, ICT, or marketing

costs, etc. under the microscope, so that they can be allocated.

These costs are often spread across various products or services,

without analysis of the real cause of the cost. This can lead to a

product or service being incorrectly considered as proﬁtable.

Xavier Gabriëls

Partner,

KPMG Advisory

T: +32 (0)3 821 17 63

E: [email protected]

TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS

Customer Proﬁtability

A practical example will make this clear: the costs of a dispatch department

cannot just be divided on the basis of the number of journeys driven, but

which journeys are being driven inside and outside ofﬁce hours must be

taken into account. Journeys that take place outside ofﬁce hours must

carry a greater load, and that in turn is important for the proﬁtability of a

product or service.

In addition, it is often overlooked that these indirect costs are to a certain

extent caused by customers themselves. Consider an example of two

customers who buy identical volumes, but where one customer pays later,

orders in smaller quantities, is located further away from the company,

has more complaints, and therefore makes more calls to the after-sales

service. In such a case, a cost calculation per customer is called for to

distinguish the proﬁtable customers from unproﬁtable ones.

However, a degree of caution is required with this kind of analysis. You

have to avoid an important, proﬁtable customer of one division being

incorrectly classiﬁed as ‘unproﬁtable’ or expensive based on a small order

that this customer placed with a different division.

Phased approach

For such intensive cost management, KPMG has developed a phased ap-

proach, which goes through ﬁve phases.

Analysis of the current situation: the costs are charted using

a vertical and horizontal analysis as well as an external and internal

benchmark exercise. In this way, it is possible to identify initial quick-

wins immediately and detect efﬁciency losses.

Exploration of alternatives: once the costs have been charted

correctly, then it is time to introduce improvements and conduct

scenario analyses. Concrete examples of this are the introduction

of e-invoicing, the implementation of new technologies such as the

use of vehicles that run on alternative energy, process optimization

for journey planning, accurate cost information so as to be able to

draw up competitive price quotes that cover all the costs, etc. Addi-

tionally, at that time, it becomes clear which services are the most

proﬁtable. On that basis, it can be decided to expand and provide

end-to-end service (as Katoen Natie does, for example) or to special-

ize (for example city-only logistics like City Depot).

Cost-cutting with consistent service quality: the various

proposals are thoroughly analyzed and the ﬁnancial and operational

impact of each optimization proposal calculated. This enables us to

select only feasible proposals.

Implementation: based on an implementation plan, the selected

short and long-term improvement proposals are implemented.

Veriﬁcation and monitoring: post-implementation analysis.

In this phase, it is examined whether the objectives have been

achieved and - if necessary whether additional measures need

to be taken.

TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS

KPMG has extensive experience in the transport and logistics

sector. This enabled KPMG to assist a transport ﬁrm, for example,

to allocate its SG&A overheads (IT, customer service, depot, ...) to

products and services, and in a second phase also to customers.

Previously, these costs were only allocated based on the volume,

but that did not reﬂect the real situation. Based on a series of

interviews, time logging during a speciﬁed period, workshops, and

leading practices, KPMG was able to produce allocation criteria,

develop a cost model, and devise a new reporting format. Due to

this increased transparency, now evidence-based decisions can be

taken in relation to cost-effectiveness.

On 24 March, ING and KPMG in Belgium held a seminar about the

transport and logistics sector. In connection with the seminar, a brief

survey of 13 questions was carried out among attendees about the

future of the sector. From this brief survey, we can conclude that

most companies recognize the various optimization challenges for

the future: e-invoicing, electric vehicles, truck sharing, etc. but that

many changes are being deferred to the long-term. By acquiring

a better understanding of these various optimizations, this picture

can change. You will ﬁnd the questions and answers here.

KPMG and transport/logistics

13 questions, 13 answers

CYBER SECURITY

Living in a state

of cyber war /

under cyber attacks

The international Security research ﬁrm Kaspersky Labs

reported recently that during a series of targeted attacks in

2014, an estimated $1B globally has been stolen from banking

institutions by a single organized crime ring. Belgium itself saw

the reality of cyber threats when the Belgian Military Intelligence

Service, TV5 Monde, and telecom provider Proximus were all

inﬁltrated by attackers

In 2014, only 31 percent of ﬁrms discovered their breaches internally.

The rest were notiﬁed by an external entity.

10% 20%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

31%

(source: Mandiant M-Trends 2015 Report)

Bart Meyer

Partner,

KPMG Advisory

T: +32 (0)3 821 17 80

E: bmey[email protected]

Jordan Barth

Senior Advisor,

KPMG Advisory

T: +32 (0)3 821 19 45

E: [email protected]

CYBER SECURITY

Who are they?

Although the groups performing these attacks vary,

we see similarities in how the successful threat

actors operate: they are well organized groups,

have clear goals, and sufﬁcient patience to get

results.

Banking institutions in the 2014 attacks highlighted

by Kaspersky Labs were primarily inﬁltrated through

the use of spear phishing emails and drive-by

downloads. These were not new attack vectors, but

they were put to an effective use by the attacking

group. The most successful crime groups have

the time and resources to wait and observe before

acting on their objectives. With the large number of

possible infections and spam emails being detected

and handled by business IT departments every

day, evidence of a targeted attack can be easily

overlooked.

Motive Drive Vector Delivery Victims

Motivations and methods:

Targeted attackers have varying motives

Financial gain

National /

Corporate Intel

Hacktivism

(ex. TV5 Monde)

Looking for least

risk with greatest

& fastest ROI

Long term ROI

Wants visibility

and recognition,

public shaming

Targeted Delivery

of Malware

Opportunistic

Delivery

Customized

Payloads to avoid

detection

Fast and stealthy

until complete

JP Morgan

Chase, DP World,

ECB

Belgacom,

Ministry of

Foreign Affairs

HBGary

Federal, Other

Anonymous

Attacks

CYBER SECURITY

What makes targeted attacks effective?

Phishing: sophisticated and well-crafted

While spear phishing campaigns are common, campaigns that are

sophisticated and well-crafted are less so. Targeted attackers use

email lures made speciﬁcally for a victim organization. They will appear

to come from colleagues, friends, or clients. In many cases, they will

come from other infected machines in the organization. They will not

contain misspellings and will be compelling for an employee to open.

Exploits: malware is almost always unique

Attacking groups use a mix of unknown and commonly known exploits

to deliver their malware to the victim’s machines. Exploits allow the

attacker to break out of system rules and install malicious software.

The exploit used depends greatly on the funding and sophistication of

the group. However, the rapidly increasing use of anti-virus evasion

techniques by advanced groups has made traditional malware

detection that most ﬁrms rely on largely ineffective.

Reliable command & control channel

Targeted attackers have clear objectives of what they wish to accomplish

in their attack and need reliable means of command and control. This

means careful planning and coordination in each step of the attack to

create an undetectable channel to send and receive information. The

IP addresses used by targeted attackers will not be tainted with bad

reputations, thus defeating classical IP ﬁltering techniques.

Mimic the behaviors of typical users

Once inside an organization, attackers will develop a proﬁle of normal

trafﬁc and attempt to mimic normal interactions by monitoring network

trafﬁc and user activities. After obtaining privileged accounts, attackers

capitalize on weak security measures and conﬁguration settings to

hide the evidence of their activities and presence.

CYBER SECURITY

What should businesses do?

• Investors and stakeholders expect leadership on cyber security issues

to come from the top. However, very often boards don’t have the

sufﬁcient expertise to lead. Boards should educate themselves on the

risks cyber issues present to the business, and discussions about cyber

risk management should be given regularly and get adequate time

on the boardroom agenda. Directors should set the expectation that

management establish a ﬁrm-wide cyber risk management framework

that has adequate scope for stafﬁng and budget.

• Discussions of cyber risk should include identiﬁcation of which risks to

avoid, accept, mitigate, or transfer, as well as speciﬁc plans associated

with each approach. A strategy should be in place that constantly

reevaluates the threats to the business and adjusts the defensive plan

as attackers and threats evolve.

• Businesses should actively test their preparedness through red team

exercises that simulate adversaries to ﬁnd what does and does not

work. Management can use these exercises to inform their decision

making, align their investments, and have better conﬁdence that their

defense and response works as planned.

IT OUTSOURCING

IT outsourcing:

more work required

on added value

More and more companies are outsourcing (part of) their IT. Not just small

businesses that don’t have the necessary in-house resources, but also large

companies. IT outsourcing is becoming more complex all the time. This

emerges from KPMG International’s annual global survey of outsourcing

trends and customer satisfaction with IT outsourcing services.

Not just cost savings, but also value creation

For the ‘Service Provider and Performance Satisfaction’-survey, the

international KPMG network screened 2,100 contracts worldwide, 70 of

them in Belgium. The main driver for IT outsourcing still seems to be

cost savings. However, improving quality (21%), access to skills (19%),

and a shorter time-to-market for new services (11%) are becoming

more and more important.

This shows that IT outsourcing is becoming more mature:

businesses are not only looking at cost savings, but also

increasingly at value creation.

Stephan Claes

Partner,

KPMG Advisory

T: +32 (0)2 708 48 50

E: [email protected]

Paul Olieman

Director,

KPMG Advisory

T: +32 (0)3 821 18 56

E: [email protected]

IT OUTSOURCING

Keeping control leads to greater satisfaction

Satisfaction with IT outsourcing runs parallel with the extent to which

a rigorous outsourcing framework and governance are implemented.

Companies who fail to pay attention to this risk a negative impact on both

costs and the quality of their IT services. In practice, we are still seeing

a lot of outsourcing that (partly) goes wrong, with all the accompanying

operational problems and ﬁnancial consequences.

These problems can be prevented by thorough preparation of the IT

outsourcing, including having a sound business case, and then checking

at regular intervals whether the supplier is actually implementing and

delivering in line with the business case, thus contributing to the business

objectives.

ISO as a guide for IT outsourcing

Companies that need more guidance for successful IT outsourcing have

recently been able to refer to the international ISO 37500 guidance

on outsourcing. This guidance not only supports decision-making in

connection with outsourcing but also the supervision of suppliers and

building mutually collaborative relationships. Paul Olieman, Director

KPMG IT Advisory, is one of the initiators and co-authors of the ISO

37500 guidance.

What about innovations and the Cloud?

The study points out that higher satisfaction with IT outsourcing not

only goes hand in hand with investing in the governance of outsourcing

relationships, but also with innovations in Cloud computing (think of SaaS,

IaaS, PaaS).

But only 60% of organizations (and less than 10% of their IT budgets)

make limited use of Cloud services. They cite 3 reasons for that:

• risks in connection with data location, security, and privacy (28%);

• concerns about regulation and compliance (16%);

• and cynicism about the claimed ease of integration of Cloud

services with existing IT systems (17%).

“Concern about security risks is understandable, but should not be

exaggerated: Cloud applications can be just as secure as other sourcing

solutions (for example on premise). Companies must assess the risks,

and the pros and cons properly. We see that sometimes, organizations

are unaware of the actual facts, and therefore don’t use the Cloud. That

means that possibly they are shooting themselves in the foot when it

comes to innovation,” says Paul Olieman of KPMG.

IT OUTSOURCING

Rationale for IT

outsourcing plans for

next 2-3 years

Cost savings

26%

Quality improvement

21%

Access to skills

19%

Financial flexibility

11%

Time to market

11%

37%

23%

11%

Source: KPMG International, February 2015

Less thank 5%

Between 5% and 10%

Between 31% and 50%

More than 50%

None

Don’t know

Between 11% and 20%

Between 21% and 30%

Approximately what proportion of total IT

expenses does your organization spend

on Cloud services (including software

platform and infrastructure services)?

IT OUTSOURCING

The Benelux in detail

The survey also asked companies in the Benelux about their satisfaction

with IT service providers. 58% of respondents state that they are satisﬁed

or very satisﬁed. That score is around the global average, but the ASPAC

region (66%) and North and South America (68%) report better ﬁgures.

We also notice that the importance of value creation by IT outsourcing

in the Benelux is not as high on the agenda as in the rest of the world.

This indicates a lower maturity in relation to IT outsourcing. We note this

in concrete terms, because compared to the global average, the score is

lower for the following objectives of IT outsourcing:

• quality improvement: 14% compared with 21%

• access to skills: 14% compared with 19%

• shorter time-to-market: 3% compared with 11%

When it comes to Cloud applications too, the Benelux is lagging behind

the rest of the world. Businesses see this as being associated with higher

risks related to data location, security, and privacy (worldwide 28%,

Benelux 34%), are more concerned about regulation and compliance

(worldwide 16%, Benelux 22%), and are more cynical about the claimed

ease with which Cloud services can be integrated with existing IT

systems (worldwide 17%, Benelux 14%).

IT outsourcing and related satisfaction are on an upward trend globally,

but the Benelux is lagging somewhat behind. More attention to

outsourcing strategy, innovation, and governance of outsourcing

relationships should make it possible to catch up.

Read more about IT outsourcing at KPMG.

KATHLEEN VERHELST

Kathleen Verhelst

Verhelst Building Materials

“As an entrepreneur, my most

important motto is: remain yourself,

honest, and sincere”

A lady with spirit in a typical man’s world of contractors

and construction workers. But Kathleen Verhelst, from the group

of the same name, can stand up for herself as well as anyone.

The Verhelst family and company

“In the fourth generation, our family ﬁrm is experiencing a real

boom. Together with my brother Johan and more recently my

nephews Briek and Steven, I run the ninety year-old ﬁrm. This

is a real growth business, and always has been. The growth is

not due only to the economic climate, because that remains

tough, but to our policy of seeking synergy with our new

activities, which derive either from start-ups or acquisitions.

For example, at the end of 2013, we took over a fellow

builder’s merchant: Callewaert. That added thirty million euro

to our turnover in one go, as well as 45 new employees.”

“In the beginning,

I was just supposed

to not get in the way.

You just have to put up

with that, and carry on."

The book “Op en topvrouw – 50 portretten van

markante en ondernemende vrouwen”, written

by Karel Cambien in cooperation with KPMG.

For more information or a free copy of the

book, please e-mail us at: info@kpmg.be.

50 portretten van markante

en ondernemende vrouwen

Karel Cambien

i.s.m. Artemis

Karel Cambien

i.s.m. Artemis

Dit boek laat, aan de hand van vijftig getuigenissen, het licht schijnen op de vrouw als

ondernemer of in een leidinggevende functie. De ondernemerswereld was te lange tijd

een milieu waarin vrouwen niet echt ernstig genomen werden. In de jaren negentig

werd de trend omgebogen en stonden steeds meer vrouwen hun mannetje. De vrouw

als rolmodel dus. Nu er meer meisjes dan jongens afstuderen aan de hogescholen en

universiteiten, laat het zich raden dat de deﬁnitieve genderdoorbraak voor de deur staat.

De selectie van vijftig vrouwen uit de meest diverse sectoren van de economie, gebeurde

in functie van persoonlijkheid en visie op ondernemerschap, ongeacht de grootte van het

bedrijf of de organisatie. Ook starters, vrouwen van allochtone afkomst of dames met

een eenmanszaak komen dus aan bod, elk met hun verhaal en eigen credo’s. De vijftig

vrouwen zijn afkomstig uit de vijf Vlaamse provincies.

Karel Cambien

Als voorzitster van de netwerken Markant en Artemis ontmoet ik elke dag sterke

vrouwen met een uitgesproken ondernemende attitude. Velen van hen richten hun

eigen zaak of onderneming op, maar ook binnen bedrijven of bij de overheid zien we

heel wat vrouwelijk ‘intrapreneurship’. Je moet mij dan ook al lang niet meer overtuigen

van de innerlijke kracht en de competenties van vrouwen. “Op en TOPvrouw”, het

is een combinatie die wel degelijk werkt. We wilden de prachtige verhalen van deze

‘rolmodellen’ die we binnen onze vereniging horen, graag met iederéén delen. In

co-creatie met journalist en auteur Karel Cambien werden 50 markante portretten

uitgeschreven.

Het resultaat: een boek dat vleugels geeft. Veel inspiratie!

Lieve Droogmans – algemeen voorzitter Markant vzw

Karel Cambien

ISBN 9789090288536

50 portretten van markante en ondernemende vrouwen

Omslag 50 vrouwen 504x258_Omslag 50 vrouwen 526x258 3/02/15 14:48 Pagina 1

KATHLEEN VERHELST

The passionate entrepreneur

“As an entrepreneur, I don’t have to look far for mottos. The most important

one is: remain yourself, honest, and sincere. In doing that, I want to be really

transparent and communicate well so that everyone can share the passion

that drives me. I am the kind of person for whom efﬁciency matters. Things

must get better, no messing about. Sometimes I try a bit too hard and probably

unwittingly create quite a bit of chaos which, fortunately, other people are

able to mold into a structure. That is why it is so important to form a team

with the people around me.

You will never hear me say that it is “my” company. No, it is the company

of a whole team, everyone if you like. That is precisely what gives me the

most satisfaction: achieving a goal or something great with the others in the

company.”

The enthusiastic manager

“Over the years, I have started looking at everything more critically and in

greater detail than ever. That comes with experience. I think that I am more

the manager type, and my brother is more of an entrepreneur. He goes out

into the ﬁeld, knows the market, and makes business deals. I feel that I am

more the driving force that makes sure that all the people at the ﬁrm are

performing, or are in the right job.”

The convinced mother

“According to a European study, there are still far too few women entrepreneurs.

Belgium is lagging well behind. What’s the reason? Not hard to work out: the

virtually impossible combination of being a mother and an entrepreneur. In order

to make the time pressure more tolerable, my husband and I took a lengthy and

carefully-considered decision: we send our children to boarding school. For a long

time, I was doubtful. Would I be a good mother if I did that? And what would

people think? Now I am proud to say that the whole family feels it was the best

solution. The children learned quickly to stand on their own feet and organize

themselves. They are free but also responsible. And above all, at the boarding

school, they will keep friendships for life. Great, isn’t it?”

KATHLEEN VERHELST

Kathleen Verhelst (45)

•

Is Managing Director of the Verhelst Group

• Education; Applied Economics (Ufsia)

• Mottos: be yourself, be transparent, efﬁcient in communication above

all, and business is something you do as a team.

• Hobby: my family, sport, maintaining friendships, travelling.

• Private life: married to Peter De Poorter, also an entrepreneur and

business executive (Monument Group, Ingelmunster). The couple has

three children.

Groep Verhelst

•

Is the leader in building materials, and involved in the construction

industry via all kinds of activities and logistics

• Headquarters: Oudenburg

• Turnover: 180 million euro (consolidated)

• Employees: 700

KPMG TROPHY

First KPMG

Trophy

hosts top European

golfers in Belgium

KPMG proud sponsor of First KPMG Trophy,

part of the Europe Challenge Tour

For the ﬁrst time, KPMG in Belgium sponsored the Belgian leg of the

European Challenge Tour, newly christened the KPMG Trophy. The

tournament was held from 10 to 14 June 2015 in the beautiful Bons Les Villers

in Wallonia. The European Challenge Tour is the second most prestigious event

for men’s professional golf in Europe, and attracted some of the biggest names

such as Charles-Edouard Russo, Jamie McLeary, Gary Boyd, Taco Remkes, Jeff

Winther, and Belgium’s own Thomas Pieters. Jamie McLeary prevailed in the

end, winning his second Challenge Tour title in six years.

KPMG TROPHY

Olivier Macq, Partner at KPMG and golfer himself:

“The KPMG Trophy is a fantastic project through

which we aim to support Belgian golﬁng talent, so

that our players can develop to a higher level and be

able to compete on The European Tour in the future.

Through our support, we wanted to give the leading

local players a signiﬁcant boost and we hope that we

have reached this objective.”

Furthermore, one day before the start of the

KPMG Trophy, KPMG organized their own Pro-Am

Tournament; an exciting opportunity for individuals

to play together with some of the most promising

young professionals from the Belgian and international

golf scene. 72 amateurs enjoyed an afternoon with

24 professional players on the greens and had the

exceptional privilege of golﬁng together at the site of

the KPMG Trophy.

For more insights into the Trophy

and the Pro-Am tournament, go to

www.kpmgtrophy.be

TAX CORNER

EU’s Digital

Single Market:

VAT initiatives

for cross-border

e-commerce

Recently the European Commission unveiled its strategy for

the Digital Single Market in Europe. The European Commission

stated that digital technologies and the internet in general are

transforming our world and that Europe must embrace this digital

revolution by using the power of the EU’s single market. This

seems to be a top priority for the European Commission, who has

worked out a detailed strategy, providing a clear action plan and

deliverables.

Manuela Dons

Senior Counsel, K law

T: +32 (0)2 708 38 12

E: mdons@klaw.be

TAX CORNER

Changes on VAT for cross border e-commerce?

Next to various actions planned across different ﬁelds, initiatives to reduce

VAT related burden and obstacles when selling across borders were also

announced.

More speciﬁcally, the European Commission will make legislative proposals

in 2016 to reduce the administrative burden on businesses arising from

different VAT regimes including the following topics:

• Extending the current single electronic registration and payment

mechanism to cross-border online sales of physical goods. Since

1 January 2015, with the entry into force of the new “place of

supply” rules, VAT on all telecommunications, broadcasting, and

electronic services is levied where the customer is based, instead

of where the supplier is located. An electronic registration and

payment system has been implemented to reduce the costs and

administrative burdens for businesses concerned; this should

also be extended to tangible goods ordered online both within

and outside the EU.

• Introducing a common EU-wide simpliﬁcation measure to help

small start-up e-commerce businesses. Preparatory work has

also been done for a comprehensive future initiative on reducing

the VAT compliance costs for SME’s in general.

• Allowing for home country controls, including a single audit of

cross-border businesses for VAT purposes.

• Removing the VAT exemption for the importation of small

consignments from suppliers in third countries. Currently goods

ordered online from third country suppliers can beneﬁt from

the small consignment import exemption allowing shipment

free of VAT to EU private customers. This currently gives them a

competitive advantage over EU suppliers with market distortions

as a result in various Member States. Therefore the introduction

of a single electronic registration and payment mechanism is

envisioned so that the VAT exemption could be abolished. VAT

could possibly be accounted for at an earlier stage than customs

clearance, by exporters or carriers.

• Analyzing the implementation of the VAT Mini One Stop Shop

(MOSS) and the 2015 Place of Supply rules to simplify cross-border

VAT rules.

• The Commission will also explore how to address the VAT

treatment of certain e-services, such as digital books and online

publications, in the context of the general VAT reform.

TAX CORNER

Foreign bank

accounts

must be reported

to the Central Point

of Contact

Like many countries, Belgium is tightening up its controls on tax

evasion. In this context, the government will be collecting additional

information about foreign accounts.

The Royal Decree of 3 April 2015 lays down the new rules which apply to

taxpayers who hold accounts abroad. As from 2015, it will be compulsory

to report these accounts to the Central Point of Contact (CPC) of the

Belgian National Bank. The reporting must occur before the submission

of the personal income tax return, on which the account also has to be

reported. Taxpayers who reported a foreign account for the assessment

years 2012 to 2014 (income for 2011 to 2013) in their tax return will be

invited by the tax authorities to register these accounts with the CPC too.

The accounts can be reported online or in written form via a standard

form available on the website of the Belgian National Bank.

You can ﬁnd more information about this new obligation here.

Ferdy Foubert

Partner,

KPMG Tax and Legal Advisers

T: +32 (0)2 708 38 17

E: ferdyf[email protected]

TAX CORNER

Does your

webshop comply

with the current

legislation?

More and more businesses are discovering the beneﬁts of online

commerce, and setting up a webshop to sell their goods or

services. Both at European and Belgian level, quite a lot of new

rules for webshops have been introduced in recent years. That

means that it is no easy matter for businesses selling goods or

services online to see the wood for the trees.

In mid-2014, the regulation on the obligation to supply information for

consumers was signiﬁcantly extended. It provides that - before an

online sale is entered into - information must be supplied in a clear and

comprehensible manner concerning the most important characteristics

of the goods or services, the total price, the length of the contract, the

delivery terms and procedure, etc.

And the law has also been tightened when it comes to the cooling-

off period. A consumer must be told clearly that he/she can cancel the

purchase within a period of 14 days and can return the goods. If the

consumer is not informed about this, or is not told clearly enough, then

the sanction is that he/she can still cancel the purchase within 12 months.

Tim Fransen

Counsel, K law

T: +32 (0)2 708 36 82

E: timfransen@klaw.be

TAX CORNER

New privacy regulation

Then there is the regulation on privacy. Anyone who wishes to process data about

his users - for example for marketing purposes - must register with the Belgian

Privacy Commission. In practice, this is sometimes overlooked.

Also, again before the sale is completed, the users of the webshop must be

informed that certain information is being collected, and the purposes for which

this information will be used.

The European privacy legislation will soon undergo a thorough revision.

Probably the new privacy regulation, which will be directly applicable in

Belgium, will come into force in the course of 2016. The new rules will

normally contain a sanctions mechanism, where ﬁnes may be imposed

by the Belgian Privacy Commission. In addition, the use of personal data

for other proﬁling and direct marketing will be regulated more clearly and

strictly.

Quick Scan

An important trend is that the legislation is increasingly evolving towards

a model in which the consumer expressly has to give consent for the

use of his personal data and businesses must inform consumers

adequately about their rights and obligations.

Compliance with these rules is more important than ever before.

Anyone who wants to ﬁnd out if their webshop complies with the

regulations would be advised to have a legal and ﬁscal ‘quick scan’

carried out, and where necessary, obtain advice about how to

further optimize the webshop.

Café Public

Join and learn more about the

challenges of the public sector

Fall 2015: “Doing more with less”

• The road to a digital government:

the importance vs. the challenges

• Reduce fraud risk through effective

integrity management

• Cost management in the public sector:

the budgetary challenge of today

More details coming soon :

kpmg.com/be/events

PUBLIC SECTOR CHALLENGE

Transformation to an

information-driven

government

The new coalition agreement contains clear principles for further

digitization of government, in particular for services provided to

citizens and businesses. So, from 2016, the use of e-invoicing will

be compulsory for government departments, e-procurement will

be the rule, and social rights and tariffs (MyCareNet, third-party

payer) will be granted automatically. It is expected of government

departments that digital working will become their new standard.

But we have not reached that stage yet: drastic changes are

required in order to get there.

Transformation process

Government has already demonstrated several times in recent years that

ICT can greatly enhance service provision and the underlying processes.

You only have to think of Tax-on-web, Student@Work, eBirth, eDepot,

eGrifﬁe, and WebDIV. In order to realize the over-arching ambitions, now

a joint approach needs to be adopted, cutting across chains of command

and departments, and there needs to be closer cooperation and

standardization. This requires a different way of working, and a different

culture.

Anthony Van de Ven

Director,

KPMG Advisory

T: +32 (0)3 821 18 59

E: avandev[email protected]

Paul Olieman

Director,

KPMG Advisory

T: +32 (0)3 821 18 56

E: [email protected]

PUBLIC SECTOR CHALLENGE

How can CIOs and managers approach the

transformation with conﬁdence?

• Unambiguous ICT strategy.

Uniformity in the ICT landscape usually leads to higher quality, improved

manageability, and lower costs. Unambiguous, seamless service provision

starts with a clear vision about how that service provision should look.

Therefore, the various government organizations concerned need to

formulate joint initial assumptions about matters including customer contact,

quality, customer segmentation, and design of the core tasks.

• The right balance between top-down and bottom-up.

In a digital transformation, visions, and initiatives (by citizens) about

the ICT landscape are compared with each other: bottom-up

initiatives contribute to faster acceptance of change processes. Senior

administrators and CIOs must ensure that the ambitions are not just

ambitious, but also feasible, that the steps along the route towards the

ultimate objective can be overseen, and that the decision-makers have

the correct judgement to be able to achieve this.

• Transparency in ICT investments.

It is more important than ever to show that investments can actually

lead to good results. The funding available is being squeezed, and the

level of ambition is high. Transparency about investments must help

to create support from society, but must also enable the digitization to

happen effectively and efﬁciently.

• Clear principles concerning sourcing.

In digital transformation, choices have to be made: which parts should

be carried out in-house, and which should not? The sourcing issue must

therefore be high on the agenda.

The digital transformation of government is not only a great

challenge but also a great opportunity for taking a great leap

forward. KPMG takes another step forward for this digitization.

We examine the international context too, because governments

are cooperating in more and more areas with other countries, and

because the authorities in other countries are engaged in the same

process, or have already completed it. Within the international

KPMG network, we notice how sharing of leading practices and

experiences contributes to faster and better implementation of

digitization processes within government.

In addition, some speciﬁc issues such as security and privacy deserve

special attention. They can be very sensitive, and the risks must be

properly incorporated into the decision-making.

International context

PUBLIC SECTOR CHALLENGE

‘Only Once’:

towards a more

efﬁcient and more

effective government

The government has to provide the same or even better services to

citizens and businesses, but with less resources. As a result, the

focus has been put on administrative simpliﬁcation, more efﬁcient

procedures, and combating fraud. The ‘Only Once’ principle offers

the government the possibility of achieving those objectives.

Context

The principle of one-time data collection, better known as

the ‘Only Once’ principle, has become increasingly present in

government circles, and has already been ratiﬁed into several laws

at the federal level. However, due to a lack of support and active

follow-up, the federal legislator decided to make the ‘Only Once’

principle mandatory at federal level: the ‘Only Once’ Act* was

published in the Belgian Ofﬁcial Journal on 4 June 2014. The

Administrative Simpliﬁcation Department (in Dutch, DAV)

has been assigned a key role in that process.

Wannes Verschueren

Senior Manager,

KPMG Advisory

T: +32 (0)2 708 48 72

E: wverschueren@kpmg.com

* The Act of 5 May 2014 enshrining the principle of one-time data collection in the operation

of departments and bodies that are part of or carry out tasks for government and on simpliﬁcation and

equivalence of electronic and paper forms.

PUBLIC SECTOR CHALLENGE

Objectives

‘Only Once’ has various goals which are advantageous for citizens, busi-

nesses, and government itself. By mandatory use of unique codes or by the

simpliﬁcation of the various mandatory government procedures or forms, it

aims to avoid citizens and businesses having to provide the same identiﬁca-

tion data over and over again. The re-use of data that is already available in

authentic sources and the encouragement of the use of electronic forms by

legally making them fully equivalent to paper forms is part of that endeavor.

Impact

In practice, many government services appear to not be completely ‘Only

Once’-compliant yet. Nevertheless, making the principle mandatory has had a

big impact on government services. Processes, technical systems, and forms

have to be reviewed and overhauled. Access to authentic sources must be request-

ed, the legislation has to be amended, etc. Those federal government departments

which are not ‘Only Once’-compliant yet have been given until 1 January 2016 to

comply with the principles of the ‘Only Once’ Act. If they do not comply on time, they

run the risk of having to pay the cost when citizens or businesses are inconvenienced by

non-compliance (ﬁnes, interest on late payment, etc.).

How can KPMG help to embed ‘Only Once’?

At present, KPMG is helping various government departments to assess their current situ-

ation and the next steps that need to be taken. In practice, this boils down to organizing in-

formation and work sessions and training courses. Furthermore, KPMG provides legal advice

and helps with the collection and analysis of information about ICT systems as well as the

amendment of forms and procedures for legal authorizations. In the next few months, KPMG

will be able to support government departments with project management, improvements in

processes and forms, communication about the changes, etc. That way, KPMG is making its

contribution to a more efﬁcient and effective government, and to the integration of the ‘Only

Once’ principle in the workings of federal government departments.

PUBLIC SECTOR CHALLENGE

The ‘Servant of the People’:

the power of integrity in

politics and government

Servants of the people are those who hold a position, paid or unpaid, in the public sector.

They gain power in ofﬁce in order to be able to serve, and they must handle this power

with integrity. But how does one do that? Muel Kaptein, Partner at KPMG Advisory NV

(the Netherlands) and professor in business ethics and integrity management at the RSM

Erasmus University in Rotterdam, is the author of “The Servant of the People: the power of

integrity in politics and government” in which he offers insight and practical assistance for

ofﬁcials in the public sector.

Aristotle, one of the ﬁrst and greatest philosophers and political scientists, said that because rulers

have power they will be tempted to use it for personal gain. This applies not only to rulers but to all

servants of the people: power brings with it the temptation of improper use or abuse. It is important to

withstand this temptation, and that requires integrity. But what is integrity, why is it so important, and

what demands does it make? In his book, Muel Kaptein aims to answer these questions. The book is

written for all those who hold a position in the public sector and discusses the many facets of integrity.

The central message is that there is great power in integrity for servants of the people. Those acting

with integrity gain power, whereas a lack of integrity undermines power and can even destroy careers.

The e-book can be

downloaded for free in

PDF format here.

Gino Silverans

Manager,

KPMG Advisory

T: +32 (0)2 708 48 06

E: [email protected]

Hilde De Cremer

Director,

KPMG Advisory

T: +32 (0)2 708 37 87

E: [email protected]

1Contents

The Servant

of the People:

On the power

of integrity

in politics and

government

Muel Kaptein

kpmg.com/be

The information contained in this magazine is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity.

Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future.

No one should act on such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation. This magazine is also available in Dutch.

The opportunities

of technology

Technology never stands still and raises the necessary

challenges for companies and governments alike.

But they have to jump on the bandwagon in order

to be able to serve customers and citizens in the

most efﬁcient manner. Technology therefore means

new opportunities in the pipeline for companies and

governments.

It is only normal for this digital (r)evolution to give

rise to questions and doubts. Fortunately,

you can count on our experts for advice

and support on your way to the future.