Long-term free work in a child's enterprise must be regarded as a legal donation and fall under the gift tax.

My research allowed me to distinct two different cases at the level of the social laws.

On the one hand, a casual help that prevails family ties as well as family solidarity for less than 90 consecutive days for a year. The helping person will not be submitted to the self-employed's social statute. No fee of social insurance will be demanded to the self-employed for the time of the helping people's service. However, this one is not essential for the company.

One the other hand, a helping person for the self-employed. This one providing for more than 90 consecutive days for a year and regularly. Even if the person works as a volunteer, she is submitted to a mandatory affiliation at the cash desk of the social insurances.

Those two different cases can, for me, be useful also for a thought about the donation. However, in Belgium, no law exists about the control of the donation in terms of service.

For me, casual help in a familial company (or of a child) shouldn't be taken into account as a gift because this one is absolutely not necessary for the good running of the company’s business. Nevertheless, in the case of a recurrent help to the company’s owner, the presence of the helping person is essential for the business like another employee. Her work can be assimilated to the other working members or employees of the company. So it's logic that this may have some implications at the level of the social laws. The question about the donation is relevant, because the work of this person participates significantly in the business' capital increase.

More, if the helping person is in a relationship of subordination with the helped person, that this one replaces an essential position and works in a sustainable and fixed way, this relationship must be considered as a work relationship despite the fact that the help person doesn't receive any remuneration. So the business owner should be submitted to the donation.

On the other hand, I think that we can put up at the same level the parent working in his child's company and the helping spouse provided that the helping people in the two cases receive no personal income from their activity as a helping person.

In Belgium, a law project exists to control the volunteers' work. Volunteers can perceive a defrayment of maximum 500 € for a month. If the package is exceeded, the self-employed person for whom she works might then be submitted to additional taxes.

Therefore, I think that the small familial business is already supporting heavy taxes. If they ask some volunteer help within their family, it's also to avoid extra charges and the burden of hiring employees. Without such a support, their existence could often be threatened too.

My point of view is that it's necessary to put into the balance all the taxation/income of the company and also take into account its capital, to avoid increasing her charges.

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