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What VAT is in Belgium, and how to work it out
Belgium has three VAT rates: 21 percent as the standard rate, 12 percent and 6 percent as reduced rates, and 0 percent for a few goods by exception. To add VAT you multiply the amount without VAT by 1.21, 1.12 or 1.06. To take it out of a total you divide by the same factor. A service of 1,250 euros becomes 1,512.50 euros with 21 percent VAT, of which 262.50 euros is VAT.
The calculator above works in cents and rounds each amount half up, the way invoicing software does. It also answers the question a company from abroad asks first: do I charge Belgian VAT at all? For most business services the answer is no. Pick "Which VAT?" in the tool, say where you are established and who your client is, and it tells you what goes on the invoice.
Multiply to add, divide to remove
One hundred euros excl. VAT, three rates
6 percentRenovating a home older than ten years
100 x 1.06 = 106106 / 1.06 = 100
12 percentRestaurant food, a hotel night
100 x 1.12 = 112112 / 1.12 = 100
21 percentA website, consulting, a repair
100 x 1.21 = 121121 / 1.21 = 100
The mistake on a totalTaking 21 percent off 121 euros
121 - 25.41 = 95.594.41 euros short
Amounts in euros. VAT is charged on the amount excluding VAT, so you work back by dividing, never by taking a percentage of the total.
Who charges VAT on a service to or from Belgium
The general rule for services between businesses and to consumers. Goods, real estate, events, transport and digital services to consumers follow their own rules.
- Belgian supplier, Belgian business client
- Who accounts for the VATThe supplier charges Belgian VAT
- What your invoice saysRate per line, VAT per rate
- Belgian supplier, business in another EU country
- Who accounts for the VATThe client, in their own country
- What your invoice saysNo VAT, their VAT number and "reverse charge"
- Belgian supplier, consumer in another EU country
- Who accounts for the VATThe supplier, Belgian VAT
- What your invoice saysBelgian rate, as for a Belgian client
- Belgian supplier, business outside the EU
- Who accounts for the VATNobody in Belgium: outside the scope
- What your invoice saysNo VAT and the reason why
- Foreign supplier, Belgian business client
- Who accounts for the VATThe Belgian client, at the Belgian rate
- What your invoice saysNo VAT and "reverse charge"
- Foreign EU supplier, Belgian consumer
- Who accounts for the VATThe supplier, VAT of its own country
- What your invoice saysIts own country's rate
For a foreign company selling services to Belgian businesses, the invoice carries no VAT at all. The VAT number of your client is what makes that hold, so check it in VIES before you invoice.
Belgian VAT rates with real examples
Which rate applies depends on what you sell. Royal Decree no. 20 lists what falls under 6 and 12 percent; everything else is 21 percent.
| Rate | Multiply by | VAT inside a total | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 percent | 1.21 | 17.36 percent | consulting, software, a website, advertising, repairs, clothing, drinks in a restaurant |
| 12 percent | 1.12 | 10.71 percent | restaurant food and catering, hotel nights and campsites since 1 March 2026, social housing |
| 6 percent | 1.06 | 5.66 percent | food, takeaway meals, books, medicines, renovating a home older than ten years |
| 0 percent | 1.00 | 0 percent | a small group of goods by exception |
A hotel night in Brussels at 190 euros without VAT now costs 212.80 euros, where it cost 201.40 euros before 1 March 2026 at 6 percent. A team dinner of 240 euros for the food plus 60 euros of wine carries 28.80 euros of VAT on the food and 12.60 euros on the wine: two rates on one bill. A kitchen of 20,000 euros fitted in a house from 1995 carries 1,200 euros of VAT at 6 percent; the same kitchen in a new build carries 4,200 euros at 21 percent.
The 6 percent on renovation has conditions: the home was first occupied at least ten years before the first invoice, it is mainly a private home after the work, the invoice goes to the owner or tenant, and the contractor supplies the materials. Since July 2022 the invoice must carry a statement about those conditions.
Invoicing Belgian clients from abroad
Most companies from abroad that work for Belgian businesses do not charge Belgian VAT. Under the general rule for business services, the service is taxed where the client is established. Your Belgian client declares the VAT at the Belgian rate and deducts it in the same return, so it costs them nothing. Your invoice shows no VAT, the client's Belgian VAT number and the words "reverse charge". Belgian clients will recognise the Dutch "btw verlegd" or the French "autoliquidation" as well.
That changes when you sell to Belgian consumers. For most services the VAT of your own country applies. For goods sent to consumers and for digital services, there is one EU threshold of 10,000 euros a year across all member states; above it you charge the VAT of the consumer's country, Belgian VAT for a Belgian buyer, and declare it through the One Stop Shop.
Check the VAT number first
The reverse charge only holds when your client is a business with a valid VAT number. A Belgian VAT number is BE followed by ten digits, starting with 0 or 1. Check it with our EU VAT number check, which asks VIES of the European Commission and, for a Belgian number, the Peppol directory too. An invalid answer means: charge VAT, or ask the client for the right number.
Belgian e-invoicing and what it means for you
Since 1 January 2026, Belgian VAT-registered businesses must send each other structured e-invoices over Peppol. A company with only a Belgian VAT registration and no establishment in Belgium is outside that obligation as a supplier, but your Belgian clients will ask for a Peppol invoice anyway because their own software expects it. See whether a client receives Peppol invoices with the Peppol check, and read the guide to e-invoicing in Belgium or whether Peppol is mandatory in Belgium for your case. The VAT amounts per rate travel inside the UBL invoice, so the client's books read them without typing.
Rounding on a Belgian invoice
A Belgian invoice shows per rate the taxable amount and the VAT on it. Rounding every line on its own can move the total VAT by a cent: three lines of 0.25 euros at 21 percent give 0.05 euros each, 0.15 together, while 21 percent of 0.75 is 0.1575, so 0.16. The calculator shows both when they differ. In Excel, with the amount in A1, =ROUND(A1*1.21,2) gives the total and =ROUND(A1/1.21,2) the amount without VAT; Dutch Excel calls the function AFRONDEN and separates arguments with a semicolon.
On every Belgian invoice with VAT
- Your name, address and VAT number, and those of your business client
- The invoice date, a sequential number and the date of supply if it differs
- Per line a description, quantity and price without VAT
- Per rate the taxable amount, the rate and the VAT
- The total to pay including VAT
- With the reverse charge: no VAT, the client's VAT number and the words reverse charge
- For renovation at 6 percent: the statement about the home older than ten years
Belgian VAT, answered
What is VAT in Belgium?
Belgian VAT is 21 percent as the standard rate, 12 percent for restaurant food, catering and hotel nights, and 6 percent for food, books, medicines and renovation of homes older than ten years. A few goods are at 0 percent.
How do I calculate 21 percent VAT in Belgium?
Multiply the amount without VAT by 0.21 for the VAT, or by 1.21 for the total. To remove VAT from a total, divide by 1.21: 605 euros with VAT is 500 euros plus 105 euros of VAT.
Do I charge Belgian VAT as a foreign company?
Not on most services to Belgian businesses: the client reverse charges the VAT. You do on goods and digital services to Belgian consumers above the EU threshold of 10,000 euros a year, through the One Stop Shop.
Can I reclaim Belgian VAT I paid?
A business from another EU country reclaims Belgian VAT on its costs through the refund portal of its own tax authority. Hotel and restaurant VAT has limits on what is deductible, so ask your accountant what counts.