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Thomas Hermie
Tax lawyer
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Further publications on this topic:
- New VAT exemption for small businesses in Belgium and the EU from 2025
- Status of VAT modernization and e-invoicing
- VAT Belgium 2025: New VAT rules for businesses
- EU reaches agreement on new ViDA proposal to modernize the VAT system
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- VAT
E-commerce companies that wish to operate in Belgium should pay close attention to Belgian and European VAT regulations for online trade. In this article, we would like to introduce online sellers to six Belgian VAT regulations that are important for the e-commerce industry.
Why foreign e-commerce companies sell in Belgium
Belgium is an attractive market for e-commerce companies from all over the world. There are several reasons for this:
- High purchasing power: Belgium is a country with a stable economy, high purchasing power and a wealthy population. It also uses the euro as its currency.
- Good logistics and infrastructure: Belgium is attractively located between important markets (Netherlands, France, United Kingdom) and has an excellent transport infrastructure, with Antwerp being the second-largest port in Europe.
- Languages: Most inhabitants of Belgium speak French or Dutch. As an e-commerce company, you can therefore draw on the resources of your online business in France and the Netherlands in many areas of customer contact.
1. No turnover threshold for B2C distance sales: VAT due in the customer's country
„Distance sales“ refer to sales of goods to non-business customers (B2C transactions) when the goods are dispatched by or on behalf of the seller from one EU Member State (e.g. Germany) to another Member State where the transport to the buyer ends (e.g. Belgium).
Before 2021, Belgium, like other EU Member States, applied turnover thresholds to such distance sales. Under the previous regulation, the seller was allowed to charge the VAT rate of their country of residence on these cross-border intra-Community distance sales, as long as their annual turnover in the buyer’s Member State did not exceed a certain threshold. Under Belgian VAT law, this threshold was 35.000 EUR.
As in all EU countries, this delivery threshold was abolished in Belgium in 2021. If a seller’s intra-EU turnover from distance sales, along with telecommunications, radio and television broadcasting, and electronically supplied services, exceeds the annual threshold of 10.000 EUR, the seller must charge the VAT rate applicable in the customer’s Member State immediately.
2. European tax portal OSS saves local VAT registrations and declarations
Since 2021, sellers who make cross-border sales to non-business customers can manage all their VAT obligations through the central tax portal known as the OSS (“One-Stop Shop”). It is therefore no longer necessary to obtain a separate VAT identification number in each Member State, except in those where the seller has its registered office or maintains a warehouse.
This procedure can also be used by sellers that are not established within the EU. Once a company opts to use the OSS, all sales in Member States where it does not have a warehouse must be processed through the OSS. Sellers wishing to apply the OSS procedure must activate it in the country where they are established.
However, there is no obligation to use the OSS procedure. Businesses may instead choose to continue managing VAT via local VAT identification numbers and declarations.
A different portal applies to the sale of goods from third countries that must be imported into the EU before delivery to the B2C customer (IOSS – see point 3).
3. The IOSS portal can be used for distance sales from non-EU countries
In addition to the revised rules for mail-order sales within the EU, a new regulation has been introduced for mail-order sales of goods from third countries that must be imported into the EU before being delivered to the end consumer (B2C).
Imports and subsequent sales to B2C customers with a value of up to 150 EUR are handled through two simplified VAT schemes:
A. About the IOSS import scheme in the IOSS portal
In this case, the VAT on distance sales from third countries is reported and paid through the IOSS portal in the EU Member State where the goods are delivered. No VAT is charged upon import, and customs procedures are simplified. However, this requires that the seller’s IOSS VAT identification number be provided to the customs authorities. Therefore, the seller must register in the IOSS portal in advance.
B. Have VAT paid by others (for duty-free goods)
If the release for free circulation takes place in the EU Member State where the goods are delivered to the end consumer, a second simplification may be applied. This involves the completion of import formalities and the payment of VAT on behalf of the buyer by a postal company, courier service, or other customs agent. In this way, the seller is not required to register for VAT purposes in Belgium.
In Belgium, it is of course still possible to apply the standard procedure for charging import VAT in the above-mentioned cases. This procedure is mandatory if the conditions for applying the special import regulations are not met (for example, if the value of the imported goods exceeds 150 EUR).
4. There is no VAT exemption for the import of low-value consignments
As described in point 3, simplified import procedures apply to consignments of goods with a material value of 150 EUR or less. To prevent non-EU companies from gaining an unfair competitive advantage over their EU-based counterparts, the VAT exemption for consignments valued up to 22 EUR has been abolished.
This measure is intended to ensure that companies based outside the EU can no longer supply goods to the EU free of VAT, thereby removing the competitive advantage they previously held over EU-based businesses.
5. VAT obligations for online shops, marketplaces and platforms
A lot also changed for online marketplaces and the providers operating there in 2021, at least if they
- import goods worth 150 EUR or less into the EU (regardless of whether the seller is based inside or outside the EU), or
- the seller is not established in the EU (in this case, it is irrelevant whether the goods come from a warehouse inside or outside the EU and what their value is).
In both cases, it is notionally assumed that the operator of the electronic interface (e.g., a webshop, marketplace, or platform) has received the goods from the seller and subsequently sold them to the customer. This applies to electronic interfaces located both inside and outside the EU. As a “deemed seller”, the operators in the end consumer’s country are required to collect and remit VAT on these sales. As explained in points 1 and 3, the OSS and IOSS portals can be used for this purpose.
6. B2C services
Largely automated services provided electronically or in the fields of telecommunications, radio, or television, with little or no human involvement, have been able to report and pay VAT via the existing central tax portal MOSS (“Mini-OSS”) since 2015.
Since 2021, this also applies to other B2C services that are subject to VAT in the EU Member State where the B2C customer is established, due to special localization rules (e.g., rental of means of transport, services related to real estate, events, etc.). By expanding MOSS into OSS, VAT for these services can now also be reported and paid through this portal.
Businesses using the OSS portal to report their distance sales or electronic services no longer need to follow the invoicing rules of the customer’s Member State. Instead, the rules of the Member State where the OSS is registered will apply.
Conclusion for e-commerce companies
Depending on the value and origin of the goods you wish to sell in Belgium, as well as your company’s specific situation regarding storage and accounting, the recommended approach may vary. Our Belgian law firm specializes in advising companies operating in Belgium and will be happy to provide guidance to you and your e-commerce on all legal and tax matters in Belgium.
Do you have a question or concern?
Do not hesitate to contact Thomas Hermie if you have any questions about the Belgian VAT regulations for e-commerce companies in Belgium. Thomas Hermie is a specialist lawyer for tax law and specialises in advising foreign companies in Belgium.
