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International audience ; Under Article 156.II.2 of the French Tax Code, introduced by the Budget Bill of 1959, tax authorities, approved by the Conseil d'État (French administrative supreme court), refuse to deduct, from the personal income tax base, alimonies whose payment is not required by Articles 205 to 211 of the French Civil Code. Such an interpretation creates social misery and glaring injustice. Since 1960, there have been around 50 official questions to the Government by French members of Parliament on the subject, often emphasizing the injustice of the situation. Yet, this clause of the French Tax Code should be interpreted differently. Indeed, Civil Law provides that natural maintenance obligations become civil ones when they are acknowledged (the payment implying an acknowledgment). Therefore, once they are acknowledged, they should be deducted. In reality, the provision was originally more or less imposed on Parliament, in the context of the last huge reform of personal income tax law, which was largely approved in principle. The Parliament did not trust the tax administration with this provision however, so the relevant commission removed it, but the Government required that this provision would be voted in alongside the entire law, and guaranteed that the administration would interpret it in a way which would be highly advantageous for taxpayers, reaching beyond the cases that are our concern here. Yet, not only did the administration act in a directly contradictory way to this, it has also misinformed members of Parliament, in particular by telling them that reform would not be technically possible. Meanwhile, many taxpayers, sometimes in wretched situations, were unjustly affected and were pressured into not helping their dependents, and into relying on social welfare instead, which increased public spending. This is therefore a legal tragedy since the rule applied by tax authorities is against material and moral interests of taxpayers and against those of society.Parliament should assert its ...

The second article of the preliminary draft law on Belgian obligations is devoted to the natural obligation. The proposed definition of the natural obligation is problematic. In reality, the purely natural obligation is a duty of justice, which positive law does not recognise in absolute terms, but leaves it open to the natural debtor to recognise it for himself on the basis of his individual consciousness. As regards the scheme, the preliminary draft proposes codifying the mechanism which is the specific nature of Belgian law among the duties currently in force: recognition. The use of the concept in this area is extremely sensible, but Belgian law would benefit from an even greater emphasis on it. The mechanism of non-restitution of the natural obligation voluntarily paid can also be explained by the concept of recognition. This is an old idea that can be found in history. Therefore, a new wording of the article on the natural obligation is proposed. ; International audience The second article of the preliminary draft of Belgian law of obligations deals with natural obligations. Its definition of natural obligations is problematic. In reality, purely natural obligations are obligations of justice, that positive law doesn't recognize in the absolute, but provides the natural debtor the faculty of acknowledging it from his individual conscience. Besides, the preliminary draft further proposes to codify the mechanism that is the specificity of Belgian law: the acknowledgment of a natural obligation. The use of this concept is extremely judicious, but Belgian law would benefit from giving it an even more important place. Indeed, the classical mechanism of non-restitution in case of voluntary payment of a natural obligation is attributable to the concept of acknowledgment. It is an old idea that is accounted for throughout history. A new wording of the article dealing with natural obligations is therefore proposed. ; The second article of the preliminary draft law on Belgian obligations is devoted to the natural ...