Belgian VAT registration

Resident businesses selling business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) goods or services are required to register for VAT in Belgium when their annual turnover exceeds €25,000. Below this threshold, small businesses may be eligible for a VAT exemption scheme.

There is no VAT registration threshold for foreign (non-EU or EU) businesses operating in Belgium. They must register for Belgian VAT as soon as they make a taxable sale or carry out any economic activity in the country.

Ecommerce businesses based in other EU countries making cross-border sales into Belgium (distance selling) must register for VAT if their total EU-wide sales exceed €10,000 per year, unless they opt for the One-Stop Shop (OSS) scheme.

Businesses must provide the following information to the Belgian tax authorities:

• Certificate of incorporation from the business’s home country
• Articles of association
• VAT certificate from the business’s home country
• Proof of business activity in Belgium
• Details of fiscal representative, if applicable (required for some non-EU businesses)
• Name of company director and proof of ID

Belgian businesses must register for VAT through the Federal Public Service Finance (FPS Finance) — via the local tax office or online via the MyMinfin portal.

Non-resident businesses making taxable sales in Belgium must register through the foreign trader unit of FPS Finance. Applications can be submitted online or via a fiscal representative if required.

It can take up to eight weeks for submissions to be processed.

Once a VAT registration has been approved, a unique Belgian VAT number is allocated to the business. All EU member states have a fixed format for their VAT numbers.

• Country code: BE

• Characters: 10 digits (usually starting with a “0” if the company number has nine digits)