Home / VAT Rates / Belgium

Belgium VAT Rates 2026

Belgium (België / Belgique) levies Value Added Tax under the name BTW/TVA (Belasting over de Toegevoegde Waarde / Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutée). The standard rate is 21%, applied to most goods and services. Reduced rates of 12% and 6% apply to essential categories including food, medicines, and cultural services.

Access rates via API

The TaxID API returns current VAT rates for all 27 EU countries. Use the /api/v1/rates/BE endpoint to get Belgium rates programmatically. Responses are cached for 24 hours.

curl http://localhost:3000/api/v1/rates/BE
# No authentication required for rate lookups

# Response:
# { "country_code": "BE", "standard_rate": 21,
#   "reduced_rates": [12, 6], "currency": "EUR" }

Applying the correct rate in code

For B2B intra-EU sales, validate the customer's VAT number first. A valid registration means reverse charge applies — you charge 0% and the customer self-accounts. For B2C, charge the Belgium standard rate.

// 1. Validate the customer's Belgium VAT number
const vatCheck = await fetch(
  'http://localhost:3000/api/v1/validate/BE/CUSTOMER_VAT',
  { headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' } }
).then(r => r.json());

// 2. Fetch current Belgium VAT rates (no auth required)
const rates = await fetch('http://localhost:3000/api/v1/rates/BE').then(r => r.json());
// → { standard_rate: 21, reduced_rates: [12, 6] }

// 3. Apply the correct VAT treatment
if (vatCheck.valid) {
  // B2B intra-EU: reverse charge — you invoice 0%, customer self-accounts
  applyRate(0, 'reverse_charge');
} else {
  // B2C: charge the Belgium standard rate
  applyRate(rates.standard_rate, 'standard');
}

About Belgium VAT

Belgian VAT numbers begin with BE0 (for companies registered before 2003) or BE1 (newer). All Belgian companies must register within 15 days of commencing taxable activity.

The Belgium BTW/TVA is administered by the national tax authority and validated through the EU VIES system. Before applying any VAT rate or zero-rate exemption to a Belgium business customer, validate their VAT registration number first.

VAT rates in other EU countries