Belgium adapts its value added tax to the digital era

Belgium is bringing its Value Added Tax Code into the digital economy. The law of October 25, 2026, published in the Belgian Official Gazette on October 30, 2026, under reference [C − 2026/007968] (pp. 58426 to 58429), partially transposes Council Directive (EU) 2025/516 of March 11, 2025, and enters into force on January 1, 2027. A second set of provisions is postponed to July 1, 2029.

The text, which regulates a matter referred to in Article 74 of the Constitution, modifies the Belgian VAT regime across fourteen articles. It was adopted by the House of Representatives — document K56-1718, full report of October 22, 2026 — before being sanctioned by King Philippe and countersigned by the Minister of Finance J. Jambon and the Minister of Justice A. Verlinden. It falls under the Federal Public Service Finance.

Its title sets the tone: “VAT rules adapted to the digital era,” applicable “from January 1, 2027, and July 1, 2029.” All taxable persons are affected, but the law primarily targets e-commerce operators and intermediaries who orchestrate distance sales.

Marketplaces: the presumption of delivery expanded

Article 4 rewrites paragraph 2 of Article 13bis of the Code. When a taxable person facilitates, via an electronic interface — marketplace, platform, portal, or similar device — the delivery of goods within the Community by a taxable person not established in the territory of the Community, they are deemed to have received and delivered those goods themselves. The platform thus becomes liable for the tax instead of the seller.

The same principle applies to utilities. Article 12 inserts a paragraph 2bis into Article 58quater: the delivery of gas via a natural gas system located in the territory of the Community, the delivery of electricity, or heat or cooling via heating or cooling networks, is deemed to constitute an intra-Community distance sale of goods when the supplier is not established in the Member State where the goods are taxed.

Distance sales: the 10,000 euro threshold rewritten

Article 5 overhauls Article 15 of the Code. The exception to the general regime requires three cumulative conditions:

• the supplier is established, or has their domicile or habitual residence, in a single Member State other than Belgium;
• the goods are shipped or transported from that Member State to Belgium;
• the total value excluding VAT of the services and intra-Community distance sales does not exceed 10,000 euros during the current calendar year and did not exceed this threshold in the previous calendar year.

The text adds that the option is deemed to have been exercised by taxable persons registered under the special scheme provided for in Title XII, Chapter 6, Section 3, of Directive 2006/112/EC — a rule extended, in mirror image, to sales departing from Belgium and to the scheme referred to in Article 58quater.

Taxability: tax due upon receipt of payment

Articles 6, 7, and 8 align the taxable event with payment. The tax becomes due at the time of receipt of payment, up to the amount received, for supplies of goods and services falling under the special schemes of Title XII, Chapter 6, of the Directive, when the taxable person is authorized to avail themselves of them. These rules supplement, respectively, Article 17 (new paragraph 7), Article 21bis, paragraph 2, 9°, and Article 22bis (new paragraph 5) of the Code.

Articles 11 and 13 simultaneously simplify the identification data: the condition of being established in a Member State is removed from Article 58ter, paragraph 2, and the mention of the email address “including, where applicable, websites” replaces previous wording in Articles 58ter and 58quinquies. Article 13 further specifies that the first subparagraph of Article 58quinquies, paragraph 2, does not apply to taxable persons benefiting from the exemption provided for in Title XII, Chapter 1, Section 2, of the Directive.

A two-stage timeline and several expirations

• January 1, 2027: general entry into force of the law (Article 14).
• June 30, 2028: deadline for the shipment of goods referred to in Article 12ter, paragraph 2, 1°; furthermore, paragraph 2bis of Article 58quater ceases to be in force on this date.
• June 30, 2029: Article 12ter in turn ceases to be in force.
• July 1, 2029: entry into force of Articles 9 and 10, which delete point 4° of Article 53sexies, paragraph 1, and subparagraphs 3 and 4 of Article 54bis, paragraph 1.

For e-commerce operators and marketplaces active in Belgium, the operational deadline remains January 1, 2027: it is on this date that the presumption of delivery by platforms, the 10,000 euro threshold, and taxability upon receipt of payment come into application. However, the abolished obligations will not disappear until 2029, which requires taxable persons to maintain two parallel readings of the Code for two financial years.

Source: Moniteur belge of October 30, 2026, [C − 2026/007968], p. 58426 to 58429.