As an entrepreneur, you naturally want to focus on your company’s operations. In addition, there are legal and administrative obligations. And let’s be frank, keeping records is a time-consuming task in many cases.
Gathering all kinds of government documents is also part of this. You often receive these documents via various channels: by post, by email, via MyMinfin, etc. How often do you overlook or fail to read an email? Or are unable to find a government document in the stack of papers anymore?
Fortunately, the “e-Box Enterprise” digital mailbox relegates this administrative hassle to a bygone age.
What is e-Box Enterprise?
e-Box Enterprise is a secure electronic mailbox which collects all kinds of government documents relating to your company in one central location. Any company with a registered company number can activate one e-Box.
In the digital mailbox you will receive both PDF files and messages from various government authorities. Examples include: FPS Finance, FPS Economy, VLAIO, NBB, Social Security institutions, etc.
Although communication is mainly one-way currently, in the long term it would also be possible to send messages and documents to government authorities’ e-Box. In this way, direct contact is established with the government and communication can be more efficient.
e-Box Enterprise versus e-Box Citizen (my e-box)
Although the two e-Boxes employ the same principle, there is a clear difference.
- Via e-Box Enterprise you receive the official messages intended for your company.
- Via www.mye-box.be you receive messages from government authorities as a citizen. This is therefore a separate personal mailbox.
How can I activate my company’s e-Box?
Only a legal representative of the company, as known to the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE), can activate the e-Box. The legal representative goes to the official website and then clicks on the ‘activate e-Box’ button.
During the activation process, the legal representative must designate a chief access manager. The chief access manager can then manage the e-Box and grant access to other users.
Once the activation process has been completed, any user can open the e-box by simply logging in with a digital key such as: the itsme app, the electronic identity card (eID) or a personal security code.
N.B.
- Unlike a citizen’s e-Box, a company can no longer deactivate its e-Box.
- Users who have access to the e-Box can consult all the available documents and messages. It is not possible to shield certain documents from certain users.
How does e-Box Enterprise work?
From now on, government authorities which work with e-Box Enterprise will send messages and documents digitally to your company’s electronic mailbox. Only documents which have not yet been digitized will still be sent by post.
For some messages, it is already possible to send a reply to the relevant government authority.
But please note:
- You cannot delete the messages you have received. Each message has a certain period of validity. This varies from 3 to 24 months. If a message expires, it will be automatically deleted from your e-Box. It is therefore appropriate to store important messages internally.
- By accepting the e-Box terms of use during the activation process, you confirm that you will actually read e-Box messages from now on.
Suppose that you have received a message from FPS Finance via e-Box Enterprise about an assessment notice. By activating e-Box, you will no longer receive a paper copy of the assessment notice. The e-Box-message has expired over time (six months) and is no longer visible in your digital mailbox. If you had not read the message and the payment term of the assessment notice has already expired, you will still have to pay late payment interest. FPS Finance assumes that you had read the message. Furthermore, the assessment notice is still available via MyMinfin. In short, it is certainly advisable to consult the e-Box on a regular basis.
TIP: receive notifications by email
It is also possible to receive messages from e-Box Enterprise by email. On your digital mailbox homepage, you can register an email address via the ‘Manage e-Box’ tab to receive notifications.
Some possible notifications are:
- A new message or document is available in your e-Box
- You are receiving an alert because a message is going to expire soon
TIP: Does your e-Box have multiple users? Register a group email address so that everyone receives all the notifications.
Receive a reminder about the UBO register
Is your business a company, non-profit organisation, trust or foundation? Then the legal representative registers the Ultimate Beneficial Owner(s) via the online UBO register.
You must record any change relating to an Ultimate Beneficial Owner in the UBO register within one month. If you do not make any changes, you must confirm the accuracy annually.
As annual confirmation is often forgotten, e-Box Enterprise can help you with this. You will receive a reminder one month before annual confirmation via e-Box.
Ready to take the plunge?
The digital age is increasingly ‘the new normal’. The paper era appears to have ended. Ever more (government) authorities are working with e-Box Enterprise to send documents to citizens and businesses digitally. Curious about possible e-Box Enterprise senders? View the list here.
Although the use of e-Box Enterprise is not currently mandatory, this may become the case in the future.
Our Bofidi experts will be happy to help you
Do you have specific questions about e-Box Enterprise? Then please feel free to contact us. Our team of experts at Bofidi will be happy to help you.