Belgium VAT registration for Belgian and foreign companies

The FPS Finance page read lists no state fee for the VAT identification itself, and the federal business portal calls the online form free. The KBO/BCE inscription through a business counter is EUR 111.50 per establishment unit in 2026, which is a different step. An accountant or accredited counter sets its own fee. Our own pricing is on request.

FPS Finance publishes no processing time for the activation or for a non-established registration. Figures quoted by other providers contradict each other and none is official, so none is printed here. The firm timings are statutory: form 604A goes in at least two days after the KBO/BCE registration and before the activity starts.

It turns on the country where the company is established. Art. 55 section 1 of the VAT Code, as FPS Finance describes it, makes a representative not mandatory where that country has a mutual-assistance instrument like Directive 2010/24/EU and Regulation (EU) No 904/2010. The representative service is covered on its own page.

A taxable person not established in Belgium must apply directly to the FPS Finance Centre for specific topics. Whether it also needs a responsible representative is the question above. The preliminary step is to check that a Belgian number is needed at all, because OSS and the cross-border SME scheme exist.

For 2026 the small-enterprise exemption covers annual turnover up to EUR 25,000 excluding VAT. The exemption is not an exit from VAT: the business keeps its number, still files the client listing and the intra-Community statement, and cannot deduct input VAT. Belgian VAT rates are 21, 12 and 6 percent, with 0 percent exceptional.

No document called a VAT registration certificate exists. FPS Finance issues an attestation of validity of a VAT number on request, and the VIES application checks a number and gives an attestation instantly. The notice that activates the number arrives through the eBox, or by recorded delivery if the eBox notice is not opened.

The official page says a VAT number cannot be transferred to another business, while activities can be transferred and the taker keeps its own identification. A buyer of a ready-made company checks the company's own record before paying, including its VAT capacity in the KBO public search.

Every taxable person must declare when its activity starts, changes or ceases (Directive 2006/112/EC, Art. 213(1)). For a Belgian company the enterprise number must be activated as a VAT identification before operations begin. Whether a given activity is taxable or exempt is a matter for the client's own adviser.

Two applications come in order: the company number first, through the clerk's office of the competent business court for a legal person, then form 604A. FPS Finance activates the enterprise number as a VAT number and notifies through the eBox. A foreign company not established in Belgium applies to the Centre for specific topics instead.

604A is the application for VAT identification. It is entered online only, in the e604 application reached through MyMinfin, logging in on behalf of a company. Its companions are 604B, an amending declaration within one month, and 604C, the declaration of cessation within the month. A paper route exists only on a reasoned request.

The number is the enterprise number, which the KBO/BCE public search shows, and the activation notice arrives in the eBox. To check that a number is valid for intra-EU transactions, use the VIES application, which answers instantly. The place-of-business address appears in VIES only if it was given in 604A or 604B.

Periodic returns go through Intervat, monthly, or quarterly where turnover does not exceed EUR 2,500,000 excluding VAT. The annual client listing is due by 31 March. Invoices are due by the 15th of the month after the chargeable event and documents are kept 10 years. The intra-Community statement is still due under the exemption.

There is no single EU registration: each Member State identifies taxable persons itself. Two schemes are exceptions and are only named here: OSS, with a EUR 10,000 distance-selling de minimis, and the cross-border SME scheme with an EX number and an EU turnover ceiling of EUR 100,000.

Structured B2B e-invoicing became mandatory from 1 January 2026 for Belgian VAT-taxable businesses, including those under the EUR 25,000 exemption. A taxable person not established in Belgium without a fixed establishment is outside the duty and informs its counterparties itself. FPS Finance tolerated infractions in the first three months of 2026 on condition of timely reasonable effort.

It is not a VAT rule, and this page does not cover it. This page deals with VAT identification: the forms, the offices, the exemption and the filing calendar. For a question on personal taxation, ask your own ITAA-registered adviser.