VAT in Belgium in 2026

Consultoria EHERO

6 minutos de lectura

In Belgium, VAT has a different name in each language: taxe sur la valeur ajoutée (TVA) in French and belasting over de toegevoegde waarde (btw) in Dutch. The standard rate is 21%, the same as in Spain, and below it there are two reduced rates, 12% and 6%, plus a 0% rate for certain newspapers. They are set by royal decree no. 20 of 20 July 1970, which divides products into tables: A for 6%, B for 12% and C for 0%.

Rate	Percentage	Applies to
Standard (taux normal · standaard btw-tarief)	21 %	Everything that does not have a reduced rate or 0%: clothing, footwear, electronics, alcoholic beverages and pet food; from 1 March 2026, also pesticides and plant protection products
Reduced (tableau B · tabel B)	12 %	Margarine, restaurant meals (drinks go at 21%) and, from 1 March 2026, hotels and campsites
Reduced (tableau A · tabel A)	6 %	Food and non-alcoholic drinks, books and press (including digital), medicines, sanitary pads and tampons, hearing aids and prostheses, plants and flowers, and fertilizers without plant protection products
Zero (tableau C · tabel C)	0 %	Daily newspapers and some periodicals, in print or digital, that meet the conditions of table C

Rates verified on 11 September 2026 against royal decree no. 20 in its latest amendment, the royal decree of 14 February 2026 published in the Moniteur belge (ejustice.just.fgov.be).

2026 in Belgium: Peppol and two rates going up

From 1 January 2026, Belgian companies with a VAT number must invoice each other using a structured electronic invoice, which goes from software to software over the Peppol network. A PDF by email is no longer enough. The obligation does not apply to invoices to private individuals and, according to the SPF Finances, nor to companies without a registered office or permanent establishment in Belgium, even if they have a Belgian VAT number there. If you sell from Spain without an establishment in Belgium, it does not affect you.

On 1 March 2026, a royal decree came into force that raises two rates: pesticides and plant protection products go from 12% to 21%, and furnished accommodation and campsites from 6% to 12%. Fertilizers remain at 6%, except those mixed with plant protection products, such as lawn fertilizer with herbicide.

And one trap that is not new: food for dogs, cats, cage birds, aquarium fish and other small pets does not fall under the 6% rate for animal feed. It is taxed at 21%.

Which VAT you charge customers in Belgium if you sell from another EU country

This is the part no rate table covers, and usually the real question. The rate you charge does not depend only on the destination: it depends on how much you sell to consumers in other EU countries.

Below €10,000 a year in distance sales to the rest of the EU — added up across all countries, not country by country — you charge your own country’s VAT.
Above that €10,000 you charge the destination VAT: 21% as the standard rate in Belgium, or the reduced rate that applies to the product. You declare it through the One Stop Shop (OSS) in your own country, with no need to register in the destination country.

The threshold adds up all your B2C sales to other EU countries plus digital services, and the switch does not wait for next year: the very sale that crosses the threshold already carries the destination rate.

Selling to a business with a valid EU VAT number is a different story: the sale goes without VAT because the customer accounts for it in their own country, but you have to check that number in VIES and keep proof of the check.

How to set this up in WooCommerce

WooCommerce includes rates by country, but it does not distinguish rates within a country by product class or monitor the threshold for you. There are three things you need to set up:

A tax class for each rate you use, assigned product by product and not at store level.
VAT ID validation at checkout against VIES for business customers, so VAT is not charged when the transaction is under reverse charge.
A control for the €10,000 threshold, because the day it is exceeded the rates change immediately across all countries at once.

All three are covered by EHERO Woo VAT, which we built precisely because these are the three points where stores selling to the rest of the European Union break.

Selling to other EU countries from WooCommerce?

EHERO Woo VAT applies each country’s rate product by product, checks VAT numbers against VIES at checkout and keeps an eye on the €10,000 threshold for you.

See EHERO Woo VAT →

Frequently asked questions

What is the standard VAT rate in Belgium in 2026?

21%, the same as in Spain. Below that there are two reduced rates, 12% and 6%, and a 0% rate for certain newspapers. All are set by royal decree no. 20 of 1970.

Is electronic invoicing mandatory in Belgium?

Between companies established in Belgium with a VAT number, yes: from 1 January 2026 and through the Peppol network. It does not apply to invoices to private individuals or, according to SPF Finances, to companies not established in Belgium even if they have a Belgian VAT number. The three-month penalty-free grace period has already ended.

I sell to Belgium from another EU country — which VAT do I charge?

Your own country’s VAT while your distance sales to the whole EU stay below €10,000 a year. Once you cross that threshold, the destination VAT (21% standard rate), declared through the One Stop Shop.

Do I have to register for VAT in Belgium?

Not if you only ship from your own country: that is what the One Stop Shop is for. You do if you store goods there — for example with Amazon’s fulfilment network — because stock held in the country creates a registration obligation regardless of how much you sell.