As of 1 January 2026, VAT-liable businesses established in Belgium will, in most cases, be required to use a structured electronic invoice for transactions between them.
During the first three months of 2026, the tax authorities will not impose sanctions for failing to meet the obligation to issue and/or receive a structured electronic invoice, provided that the business can demonstrate that it has made timely and reasonable preparations to comply with this new requirement.
This is therefore not a general postponement. The tolerance applies only if the business has made sufficient efforts to ensure the timely and correct implementation of e-invoicing. The tax authorities will assess this on a case-by-case basis.
Following last week’s budget negotiations, the Belgian government announced several adjustments to VAT rates. The VAT on hotel accommodations and similar lodging services, as well as on the rental of camping pitches, will increase from 6% to 12%.
The VAT rate for sports and leisure activities will also rise from 6% to 12%. Initially, cultural activities were considered as well, but the government ultimately decided not to increase the current 6% VAT rate for culture. We now await further clarification in the legislative texts to understand where exactly the boundary with cultural services will be drawn.
In addition, the government plans to align the VAT treatment of take-away meals and non-alcoholic beverages with that of dining on-site. This means the VAT on these take-away items will increase to 12%. Conversely, the VAT on non-alcoholic drinks consumed on-site—for example in restaurants—will be reduced from 21% to 12%. Here too, we are waiting for detailed legislation to clarify the distinction between 12% VAT on take-away and the 6% rate applicable to food products intended for home consumption. The government may look to the French system as a reference.
Alcoholic beverages will continue to be subject to the standard 21% VAT rate.
Finally, the VAT on pesticides will increase from 12% to 21%. For natural gas, there will (for now) be no VAT increase. However, excise duties on natural gas—as well as on heating oil, diesel, and petrol—will rise, while excise duties on electricity will be reduced.
On 26 August 2025, the tax authorities announced that the further implementation of the VAT chain (such as the introduction of the VAT provision account, the abolition of the VAT current account, and the use of a new account number for regular VAT payments), scheduled for 1 October 2025, has been postponed until further notice. The tax authorities have now also published a circular providing some clarifications on the consequences of this postponement.
In its circular 2025/C/6 of 27 January 2025, the tax authorities had provided for a transitional period until 30 September 2025 for certain elements of the new VAT chain. Due to the indefinite postponement of the measures yet to be implemented, that transitional period has now also been extended indefinitely.
As long as this transitional period applies:
regular VAT payments must continue to be made to account BE22 6792 0030 0047 – “VAT receipts”, using the structured communication indicated by the administration on the receipt of the submitted periodic VAT return;
refund requests in the VAT return regarding the VAT credit concern the full VAT credit (and not only the credit arising from the relevant return – meaning that even in a return with a payable VAT balance, a refund may be requested of an outstanding VAT credit);
the holiday scheme remains in place – including in 2026 if the holiday period falls before the end date of the transitional period;
for both quarterly and monthly filers, submission and payment may be postponed until the next working day if the statutory deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday – once the transitional period ends, this extension will only be allowed for monthly filers;
no fine will be imposed for late submission of a VAT return, provided it is submitted by the 10th day of the second month following the return period.
The tax authorities will communicate on their website when the transitional period ends.
Mixed VAT taxpayers who apply the real use for their VAT deduction are currently required to provide the following additional information, based on figures from the previous year, with their VAT return for the first quarter or, at the latest, for the month March:
the percentage allocation of the VAT charged to:
costs of activities for which there is a right to deduct;
costs of activities for which there is no right to deduct;
mixed costs;
the special ratio(s).
For 2025, as for 2024, these VAT taxpayers have been granted a deferral by the tax authorities to provide this detailed information in their VAT return for the second quarter, or at the latest for the month June (returns to be submitted by 8 August 2025 under the summer arrangement). They may base this information on an estimate. However, they must then provide the detailed information again in their third quarter return, or at the latest in their November return, based on the final figures for the past year.
As was the case last year, the tax authorities have indicated that this estimate will suffice, except for large companies, which will remain obliged to provide the final figures. From 2026 onwards, no tolerance will be applied for these companies.
But even more importantly, from 2026 onwards, SMEs will no longer be required to provide this additional detailed information.
For partially VAT taxpayers entities, it had already been decided last year that only large companies would be required to provide this detailed information.
The amendments to VAT rates provided for in the draft programme law for, among other things, the sale of a house that has been demolished and rebuilt (6% instead of 21%), the installation of central heating burners that run on fossil fuels in homes that are at least 10 years old (21% instead of 6%) and the increase from 12% to 21% for coal, were to take effect on 1 July 2025.
Now that 1 July 2025 has passed and the draft programme law has still not been adopted by the Chamber, the question arose as to what impact this delay will have on the aforementioned changes to VAT rates.
Minister Jambon announced yesterday in the Finance Committee that the government will table amendments to the draft programme law to bring these into force from the date of publication of the programme law in the Belgian Official Gazette.
There would therefore be no retroactive effect. It is possible that this will still be allowed for certain measures on a tolerance basis, but this remains to be seen.
For sales of homes that have been rebuilt after demolition, it may be advisable to postpone issuing the invoice on which VAT is due until the VAT reduction has actually come into effect or until there is more clarity on this matter.
On 27 May 2025, the government submitted the draft programme law to the House of Representatives. For VAT, it contains the following measures:
exclusion of the reduced VAT rate of 6% for immovable property transactions involving dwellings that are at least 10 years old, both for the supply and the attachment to a building of the components or part of the components of the specific part of a central heating installation that runs on fossil fuels;
the reintroduction of the reduced VAT rate of 6% for the sale of homes that have been demolished and rebuilt and that:
the buyer rents out on a long-term basis directly to private individuals who take up residence there and which have a habitable surface area of no more than 175 m²;
the buyer rents out on a long-term basis to or through (a management mandate) a social rental agency or to a social housing company recognised by the competent authority for social housing policy or other legal entity under public or private law with a social purpose;
the buyer, who is a natural person, uses the property as their sole and main residence and has a habitable surface area of no more than 175 m²;
the abolition of section VIII (fuels) of Table B of the Annex to Royal Decree 20, which means that the VAT rate will increase from 12% to 21% for the following goods:
uncalcined petroleum coke, used as fuel.
coke and semi-coke from coal, lignite or peat;
brown coal and compressed brown coal, with the exception of git;
coal and solid fuels manufactured from coal;
The above measures were to take effect on 1 July 2025. The government has therefore requested that the draft programme law be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
The retroactive abolition of the extension from 7 to 10 years for the limitation period in cases of fraud was removed from the draft programme law and will be included in a preliminary draft law containing various VAT provisions.
Belgium’s Circular 2025/C/23 implements European case law on the late exercise of VAT deduction rights, particularly following the Volkswagen AG and Biosafe rulings. These judgments clarified that VAT deduction cannot be denied solely for being late if the taxpayer was objectively unable to exercise the right within the standard limitation period.
In Belgium, this period is three years after the end of the calendar year in which the VAT became chargeable. While the circular acknowledges this case law, it applies it rigidly. VAT may only be deducted in the period when the corrective document is received and only under strict cumulative conditions and only if the supplier has paid the additional VAT. The right is limited to the additional VAT due under a corrected invoice; any originally invoiced VAT remains subject to the standard limitation.
The circular furthermore introduces additional reporting obligations. Taxpayers invoking the Biosafe exception must inform the tax authority in advance and clearly reference the circular in their VAT return. Details such as the deductible amount, corrective document number, and applicable VAT boxes (81–83 and/or 62) must be provided. A limited tolerance is allowed for documents received just before the limitation period expires, if timely declared.
Since 1 January 2025, VAT taxable persons established in Belgium can, under the applicable conditions, also apply the small business exemption scheme in other member states that have introduced it (SME scheme). To do so, however, they must register via a module in Intervat. That module is still under development. In principle, it would be available from 3 March 2025 but the tax authorities have informed that this date will be postponed to 15 April 2025.
Belgian VAT taxpayers who want to apply this exemption scheme in another member state now will have to apply directly to the tax administration of that member state.
The new VAT chain will come into effect in phases starting on 1 January 2025. One of the new measures is that the application for a VAT refund via the VAT return only relates to the credit on that return (schedule 72).
Because a VAT credit can only be refunded if it amounts to at least 50 euros, the tax authorities have provided a new validation rule in Intervat that the application for refund cannot be checked off if nothing or an amount of less than 50 euros is stated in schedule 72.
Until 30 September 2025, however, a transitional arrangement applies whereby the application for a refund of the VAT credit in the VAT return still relates to the full credit on the VAT current account.
However, the tax authorities had already activated the aforementioned validation rule in Intervat, which meant that those subject to VAT could not tick the request for a refund of the credit on their VAT current account if nothing or an amount of less than 50 euros was stated in the 72nd schedule.
The tax authorities have announced that the aforementioned validation rule has now been deactivated. VAT payers who have already submitted their monthly returns for transactions in January 2025 without being able to tick the request for a refund of their VAT credit can either modify their tax return until 20 February 2025 (correcting the VAT return), or make use of the option to request a refund outside of the tax return (by writing to the competent VAT office).
From 2024, the reduced VAT rate of 6% no longer applies to the sale of homes rebuilt after demolition that meet the so-called social conditions. The tax authorities provided a transitional arrangement for projects for which the environmental permit had been applied for by 30 June 2023, which has since been extended to 30 June 2025.
The Constitutional Court was asked whether charging 21% VAT on the sale of homes that meet the so-called social conditions after demolition and rebuilding does not violate the principle of equality and non-discrimination compared to the case where a builder can have a house demolished and rebuilt at 6% VAT if it meets the same so-called social conditions.
According to the Court, on the one hand, that sale and, on the other hand, the case in which a builder himself has a house built on his own behalf are not similar transactions. Nor does the new regulation discriminate against building promoters (who sell the houses) compared to contractors (who carry out the work for the builder). The difference in treatment between these two categories of VAT payers is sufficiently justified according to the Court.
Even though this judgement is less good news for property developers, the 6% VAT on the sale of houses rebuilt after demolition will soon be reintroduced. This plan has been included in the recent coalition agreement. The intention is to limit the maximum surface area to 175 square metres (instead of 200).
