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Belgian Invoice Requirements

Zuletzt aktualisiert: 2026-03-06

Quellen:financien.belgium.befinancien.belgium.be

Invoicing in Belgium (BE)

This article provides an overview of invoicing requirements for freelancers and small businesses in Belgium, based on official government sources.

Mandatory invoice fields

Belgian BTW (Belasting over de Toegevoegde Waarde - Value Added Tax) regulations require that all entries in your accounting books reflect the amounts in your periodic BTW declaration and be supported by justifying documents, such as invoices [https://financien.belgium.be/nl/ondernemingen/btw/boekhouding-facturering/boekhouding-facturering].

An invoicing obligation generally exists for:

  • Supplies of goods or services made in the course of your profession to a BTW-liable person or a non-BTW-liable legal entity.
  • Distance sales to a non-BTW-liable person.
  • When the tax becomes due (on the full or partial price of the transaction) before a supply of goods or services is performed.
  • Supplies of new means of transport that are sent or transported by the seller, buyer, or on their behalf to the buyer outside Belgium but within the European Community.
  • Specific supplies, even if the customer is a natural person acting privately, including:
    • Supplies of vehicles (new or second-hand, for passenger or goods transport, land or other) and their parts/accessories, and related works exceeding €125 (including BTW).
    • Supplies of new buildings and associated real rights.
    • Immovable works.
    • Supplies of goods and services intended for the construction of a new building.
    • Hire purchase and installment sales.
    • Supplies of goods clearly intended for professional use.
    • Supplies made in establishments or places not normally accessible to private individuals.
    • Supplies made by producers or wholesalers.
    • Removals or furniture storage and related services.
    • Certain BTW-exempt supplies of goods and services performed in the context of international relations.
    • Supplies of investment gold exceeding €2,500.

There is no invoicing obligation for supplies of goods or services to natural persons (BTW-liable or not) who use them for private purposes. In such cases, an entry must be made in the daily receipts journal. This can be a single total amount per day, unless the unit price of the goods supplied (including BTW) exceeds €250, in which case that specific supply must be recorded separately [https://financien.belgium.be/nl/ondernemingen/btw/boekhouding-facturering/boekhouding-facturering].

Invoices must be issued no later than the 15th day of the month following the month in which the taxable event occurred [https://financien.belgium.be/nl/ondernemingen/btw/boekhouding-facturering/boekhouding-facturering].

For operators of establishments where meals are consumed and caterers with restaurant/catering service turnover exceeding €25,000, a GKS-ticket (Geregistreerd Kassasysteem - Registered Cash Register System ticket) must be issued. Below this threshold, or for car wash operators and hotels providing accommodation, a numbered receipt printed by an approved printer is required. These receipts can be replaced by an invoice if issued at the time of service completion, but an invoice can never replace a GKS-ticket [https://financien.belgium.be/nl/ondernemingen/btw/boekhouding-facturering/boekhouding-facturering].

Note: The provided sources do not explicitly list all mandatory fields (e.g., invoice number, date, seller/buyer details, description of goods/services, price, BTW amount) that must appear on every invoice. However, as justifying documents for BTW declarations, standard EU invoice requirements generally apply.

Registration IDs

Even small businesses operating under the BTW exemption scheme must remain BTW-liable and therefore must have a BTW-identificatienummer (VAT identification number) [https://financien.belgium.be/nl/ondernemingen/btw/btw-plicht/vrijstellingsregeling].

VAT rates

The provided sources do not contain specific information on standard, reduced, or zero/exempt BTW rates in Belgium, nor do they provide examples of goods or services falling under each rate.

Intra-EU transactions

For BTW-liable persons:

For small businesses under the BTW exemption scheme:

Special regimes

BTW Exemption Scheme for Small Businesses (Btw-vrijstellingsregeling kleine ondernemingen)

This scheme exempts small businesses from most BTW obligations in Belgium [https://financien.belgium.be/nl/ondernemingen/btw/btw-plicht/vrijstellingsregeling].

Eligibility and Thresholds:

Benefits:

Remaining Obligations:

Calculation of Turnover Threshold for New Businesses: If you start your activity during a calendar year, the €25,000 threshold is proportionally reduced. For example, if you start on July 1, 2026, and estimate your turnover from July 1 to December 31, 2026, at €15,000, you must compare this to the pro-rata threshold: €25,000 - (€25,000 * 181/365) = €12,603. Since your estimated turnover (€15,000) exceeds the pro-rata threshold (€12,603), you cannot use the exemption scheme in 2026 [https://financien.belgium.be/nl/ondernemingen/btw/btw-plicht/vrijstellingsregeling].

Exceeding the Turnover Threshold:

Returning to the Exemption Scheme:

Simplified invoices

The provided sources do not contain specific information on when simplified invoices are allowed or what information can be omitted from them.

Retention requirements

You must keep invoices, copies of invoices, accounting books, and other relevant documents for 10 years [https://financien.belgium.be/nl/ondernemingen/btw/boekhouding-facturering/boekhouding-facturering].

Recent updates or upcoming changes

Cross-border SME Exemption Scheme (SME-regeling):

Customer Listing (Klantenlisting) for Small Businesses:

  • For the calendar year 2025, small businesses under the exemption scheme must communicate the total amount of their transactions performed in Belgium by March 31, 2026, via the application provided for the BTW customer listing. This means a customer listing must be submitted even if no transactions would otherwise need to be listed [https://financien.belgium.be/nl/ondernemingen/btw/btw-plicht/vrijstellingsregeling].

Choosing the Exemption Scheme in 2026: For 2026, you can choose the exemption scheme via the e604 application with the following deadlines:

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