Belgium

Potential 22% rate Country VAT rates are under constant revision and review. The High Council of Finance in Belgium has indicated that it is contemplating increasing the VAT rate to 22%. This is by no means definitive, but Tungsten Network will keep up to date with any developments and incorporate any new rates in our system.

Joint incentive to reduce the VAT gap Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg representatives have convened to discuss plans to reduce the VAT gap. Although Continuous Transaction Controls (CTC) have proven to be extremely popular in the past few years, with a means to reducing the VAT gap, the VAT gap remains high- 134 million Euros was lost in revenue the EU in 2019. Shared borders and economic interests between the 3 countries have prompted the countries to work together to reduce this gap yet further- a key factor in the implementation of e-invoicing mandates.

Mandatory B2G e-invoicing A Royal Decree has been published outlining the modalities regarding the obligation for entrepreneurs in the context of public contracts and concession contracts (B2G). Below are a few key timeframes regarding e-invoicing obligations:

• 1 October 2022: public contracts and concessions the estimated value of which is less than European threshold
• 1 April 2023: public contracts and concessions the estimated value of which is less than EUR 30 000 excluding value added tax, but less than European threshold
• 1 October 2023: all public contracts and concessions

The Official Royal Decree can be found via the following link.

Scope of B2G e-invoicing expanded B2G e-invoicing regulations are already in place for multiple regions in Belgium (Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia). B2G e-invoicing will now be extended to the suppliers of all public entities in all regions across the country. The obligations will be implemented in a phased approach, based on the size of public contracts. The Belgian government has approved a royal draft decree to this effect. This draft law has not yet become law so the proposed dates are provisional, however, it is expected that by September 2023 the obligation will extend to all public contracts, irrespective of the value of the public contact. It is however expected that contracts below 3000 Euros will be exempt from the obligation to use e-invoicing.

Reduced VAT rate for electricity Last month we communicated that Belgium had taken some VAT-related measures as a direct result of the pandemic. Belgium has also introduced further VAT reforms - from 1 March 2022 to 1 July 2022, the VAT rate for electricity will be reduced from 21% to 6%.

Reporting obligations for digital platform operators – FAQs published

Specific reporting obligations for digital platform operators have been in place since 2021. These obligations request that digital operators inform service providers active on the applicable platform of their fiscal and social obligations. Digital operators also need to send to both the tax authorities and service providers information relating to the type of service rendered and any relevant amounts.
The Belgian Tax Authorities have recently published FQAs clarifying the scope of these reporting obligations. The first reporting deadline is as soon as 31 March 2022, and it is advisable that any affected digital operators refer to this for clarification of the legislation and their responsibilities.

Covid VAT reductions for mouth masks and hydroalcoholic gels

The Covid-pandemic continues to have a significant effect on the VAT measures countries are undertaking. Circular 2022/C/2 has extended the temporary VAT rate of 6% on the supply, intra-community acquisition and import of mouth masks and hydroalcoholic gels.

Draft Royal Decree on B2G e-invoicing

The European Directive 2014/55/EU on e-invoicing for public procurement had already taken effect in law but was not yet implemented in VAT legislation. As a result, the Council of Ministers recently approved a draft Royal Decree on B2G e-invoicing which has now been submitted to the Council of State.

Further intentions to implement mandatory B2B e-invoicing

We recently published an update relating to Belgium’s intention to mandate B2B e-invoicing- and it looks like this is increasingly gaining more impetus. The Belgian Minister of Finance has reinforced Belgium’s intention to make e-invoicing mandatory in his policy note. This intention is mainly triggered by the need to reduce the VAT gap. Belgium’s VAT gap is high- amounting to 3.6 billion Euros, or 10.4% of the total VAT revenue, and mandatory e-invoicing is seen as a means to overcome this deficit.

This is still at early stages- no timeframes have yet been announced, and there are not yet any suggested working models for a potential e-invoicing mandate. However, it is difficult to ignore the increasing popularity of PEPPOL in Belgium in recent years- and so it seems likely that Belgium will rely on a similar model for its own e-invoicing mandate, drawing on its own experiences with PEPPOL to help build an e-invoicing model.

The full policy note can be found here.

Advancements in the B2G landscape

From 1^st January 2022, e-invoices will be the preferred method for submitting invoices to Government organisations. It will still be possible to send invoices by post- but these must be sent to a specific address- SPW Finances – Centre de scanning – Avenue du Gouverneur Bovesse 29 – 5100 Jambes. Sending an invoice in PDF or Word format by email will no longer be permitted.
There will also be several new mandatory references on the invoices.