Invoice requirements in Belgium

What the invoice must show

Compare your draft with this checklist. What applies depends on the parties, the transaction, your tax status and the document type.

1. Supplier identity: the full name (or trade name) and registered address of the supplier, plus its Belgian VAT number (BE followed by ten digits).
2. Customer identity: the name and address of the customer, plus its VAT number where the customer is a VAT-registered business, which is needed for B2B and intra-EU supplies.
3. Invoice number and date: a unique, consecutive number within a numbering series and the date the invoice is issued.
4. Supply details: the date of delivery or completion of the service where it differs from the invoice date, and a description of the goods or services with their quantity or extent.
5. Amounts: the price excluding VAT, any discounts or rebates not already in the price, the applicable VAT rate (21%, 12%, 6% or 0%) and the VAT amount in euro.
6. Special mentions: wording for any special regime, such as reverse charge or an exemption, and the statement that a small enterprise is exempt from VAT where that applies.

Key numbers

VAT rates

21% standard, 12% intermediate, 6% reducedSource ↗Each rate has its own line on the VAT return; 0% applies to some exceptional goods and services.

Small enterprise exemption

Annual turnover up to EUR 25,000 excluding VATSource ↗Exempt businesses must not charge VAT and must indicate the exemption on customer invoices.

Late-payment compensation

Flat EUR 40 collection-cost paymentSource ↗Added automatically once late-payment interest is due, on top of interest.

Tax notes

Electronic invoicing

From 1 January 2026, structured electronic invoicing is compulsory for B2B transactions between Belgian VAT-liable enterprises, for invoices drawn up, issued or sent from that date. The official e-invoice FAQ says structured invoices should in principle be exchanged via the Peppol network, and businesses must be able to send and receive them through Peppol-connected software. Penalties for non-compliance are described in general terms only on the official pages, with no amounts given.

Late payment

Statutory interest on late commercial payments is the ECB main refinancing rate plus 8 percentage points, rounded up to the next half point, with the reference rate fixed on 1 January and 1 July; the Minister of Finance announces the rate in the Belgisch Staatsblad. A flat EUR 40 collection-cost payment is added automatically once late interest is due.

Calculate interest and compensation for Belgium →

Record keeping

Keep invoices and related accounting records for seven years, as required for VAT purposes. Check FPS Finance for the period that applies to your records.

Watch out for

• The official e-invoicing FAQ says the law is still being amended on some points, for example the position of VAT-registered persons not established in Belgium, so check the current text before relying on exceptions.
• Late-payment interest and the EUR 40 compensation apply automatically between businesses, so payment terms and invoice dates matter as much as the invoice format.

Official links & tools

Go straight to the source for the latest rules, rates and registers. Non-English pages are tagged with their language.

Sources for this guide

Reviewed against these references on 20 October 2026. Rules change, so check the current text before relying on it.

1. Accounting and invoicing (FPS Finance)
2. General questions on the B2B obligation (e-invoice)
3. SME scheme (FPS Finance)
4. Law of 2 August 2002 on combating late payment (Justel)