Now that 2024 has passed, it appears that you or your company have prepaid more than necessary.

If you do nothing, the earliest you will get that excess back is after your tax return is processed by the tax authorities.

Use as an advance payment for 2025?

You can. In principle, the excess prepayments you made in 2024, you can carry forward through MyMinfin no later than March 31, 2025 as a prepayment for 2025. That amount will then count as VA1.

Does that carry over to 2025 make sense?

Yes, insufficient prepayments will result in a penalty (tax increment) of 6.75%. You can avoid this by paying in advance, and the earlier in the year you do so, the better!

Is penalty rate for non prepayment in 2025 already known?

Yes, for income year 2024, the penalty if you did not pay or underpay upfront was 9% for both partnerships and sole proprietorships.

Also for income year 2025, the penalty for sole proprietorships and partnerships runs the same and has dropped to 6.75%.

As of Jan. 1, 2026, all Belgian companies must electronically invoice their business-to-business (B2B) transactions. Specifically, this concerns nearly 1.2 million companies subject to VAT, of which some 250,000 are already registered today on Peppol. This is the secure network through which the transfer of invoices will take place. So many companies have yet to take the step. This is why the FPS Finance and the FPS Economy are now launching an awareness campaign.

From Jan. 1, 2026, all Belgian VAT-registered companies will have to use structured electronic invoices for their B2B transactions. Invoices in PDF format or on paper will be replaced by structured invoices exchanged directly between companies’ software.

The purpose of this obligation is to reduce the VAT gap and to digitize our Belgian economy. Our country is thus a step ahead of European regulations, which will become mandatory for intra-community transactions from July 1, 2030.

“Although e-invoicing will become mandatory from January 1 next year, too few companies are yet prepared for it. E-invoicing offers many benefits, such as time savings and cost savings, but it also ensures smooth day-to-day management for our 1,200,000 enterprises.” Eléonore Simonet, Minister of the Self-Employed and SMEs

Benefits for businesses

E-invoicing offers several benefits to businesses, including:

• Lower costs: savings of up to €9 per invoice, or 75% less billing costs;
• higher efficiency: automated processing reduces errors and speeds up payments;
• better security: a fully secure system prevents abuse and attempted fraud.

Secure Peppol network

The exchange of structured electronic invoices will be done through the secure Peppol network. That system facilitates the transfer of standardized business documents between companies.

Companies must ensure that their billing software is compatible with Peppol to meet future obligations.

Today 250 000 companies are already registered on Peppol, and about 1 500 are added daily.

How can companies prepare?

Companies should, in preparation for the mandatory transition:

• evaluate their current billing system;
• use software that supports Peppol;
• prepare their staff for the new electronic billing procedures.

In addition, tax benefits are available for companies to adopt this new form of invoicing:

• Since Jan. 1, 2025, the digital investment deduction increased to 20%.
• For the taxable periods from 2024 to 2027, SMEs and self-employed individuals who use subscription formulas will be able to take an increased deduction of 120% for billing packages and consulting costs incurred to meet the new obligations.

To ensure a smooth transition and to support companies in this transition, FPS Finance and FPS Economy are launching an awareness campaign via the website http://efacture.belgium.be.

The website provides:

• a very detailed FAQ;
• a contact page;
• a roadmap.

“This awareness campaign is a very good thing. Moving to e-invoicing will be a big change for companies, to the benefit of their efficiency. So it is important to support them in this process. To encourage them, companies can already take advantage of tax breaks, such as the deduction for digital investments or the increased deduction of 120% for billing packages.” Jan Jambon, minister of finance

Are you now self-employed in principal or secondary occupations?

It depends on your situation because you don’t just choose whether to join as self-employed in main occupation or in secondary occupation.

• You become self-employed in principal occupation if self-employment is your sole or principal occupation.
• You become self-employed in a secondary occupation if you still have at least a half-time job as a salaried employee or civil servant.

A half-time job is a job according to at least half of a full-time schedule. If full-time according to your employment contract is 38 hours, then you must work at least 19 hours to have a half-time job.

Important to know: do you start a quarter in main occupation? Then you pay social security contributions for that entire quarter as a self-employed person in main occupation, even if you are affiliated in main occupation for only one day.

Joining in principal occupation:

• Your social contributions insure you of pension, growth package, intervention in medical expenses and all other rights you enjoy
• You build up your social protection yourself. That’s why you always pay at least the minimum quarterly contribution, regardless of your income.
• You can provide additional protection: build up a supplementary pension capital, a replacement income in case of disability.

Joining in secondary occupation:

• You have social protection through your main occupation as a salaried employee or civil servant. You pay fewer social contributions as a result
• If your income as a self-employed person in a secondary occupation is below 1,881.76 euros: then you pay no social contributions.
• You cannot build up a supplementary pension unless your income after 3 years exceeds 17,008.88 euros, then you pay the same amount of social contributions as a self-employed person in main occupation and you can build up additional social rights to give you extra protection.

Joining as a secondary or principal occupation is identical. You need a company number and VAT number and join a social insurance fund.

1. New filing and payment deadline
   • Quarterly declaration

The deadline for the periodic VAT return and intra-community statement will be the 25th day of the month following the period to which this return or statement relates. Previously, this was the 20th day.

From January 1, 2025, the VAT due arising from a submitted quarterly return must be paid no later than the 25th day of the month following the period covered by that return (previously the 20th day).

• • Monthly declaration

The filing deadline for periodic VAT returns and intra-community statements does not change and thus remains on the 20th day of the month following the period to which this return or statement relates.

The payment period does not change. As before, the VAT due resulting from a submitted monthly declaration must still be paid at the latest on the 20th day of the month following the period to which this declaration relates.

2. Recovery of a proposed substitute declaration

If your periodic VAT return is not submitted before the expiration of a 3-month period following the declaration deadline, the FPS Finance prepares a proposal of replacement return.

This proposal is sent by registered mail and takes effect on the ^3rd business day following the delivery of that registered mail to the mail carrier.

This proposal shall include at least the following entries:

1. the entry “proposal of substitute declaration”
2. The return period for which you did not file a return
3. The amount of VAT due corresponding to:
4. the highest amount of VAT due (= highest schedule 71) that was included in one of the periodic VAT returns relating to the 12 months preceding the return period of the return you failed to file on time.
5. 2,100 euros, if there was no declaration in respect of the previous 12 months, or if the VAT due under point a. is less than 2,100 euros
6. The legal basis on which we rely to determine the amount of tax due

If you submit your periodic VAT declaration within the period of one month from the date of elaboration of that proposal, the procedure of proposal of substitute declaration will be terminated.

3. Adjusted fines

From 01.01.2025, the following fines will be adjusted:

• the fine for late submission of the periodic VAT return: the new fine is 100 euros per month of delay with a maximum of 500.00 euros.
• The penalty for failure to file the periodic VAT return:
  • 500 euros for the 1st offense
  • 1,250 euros for the 2nd offense
• 2,500 euros for the 3rd offense
• 5,000 euros for each subsequent offense
• the penalty for non-payment of VAT due arising from a periodic VAT return:
  • The claimability of the tax is evidenced by a timely filed periodic VAT return: 5% of the tax due
  • The claimability of the tax is evidenced by a late filed VAT return. This includes returns filed after the notification of substitute declaration, but before the substitute declaration becomes final: 10% of the tax due
• The claimability of the tax is evidenced by a substitute return that has become final: 15% of the tax due.

4. The VAT commission account

This account replaces the current VAT account. The main difference is that it does not show the amounts due and the balances for which reimbursement is requested.

• Operation
  1. What amounts go into the commission account?
     • The credits from your periodic VAT returns for which you did not request a refund or when all the conditions were not met to obtain them.
     • Payments you make in anticipation of a periodic return due.
  2. What can you do with your commission account?
     • View the detail of your available commissions.
     • Deposit a new commission amount via online payment or wire transfer.
     • Demanding repayment of all or part of your available commissions.
     • Using your available commissions to:
       • settle a debt of another nature,
       • make an upfront payment.
  3. You can perform all these steps directly through our platform MyMinfin. You can also deposit a new commission amount via bank transfer.
  4. For its part, the FPS Finance can intervene in your commission account in the following ways:
  5. When you file a periodic return, we will use your available commissions to settle the amount due, including late payment interest and penalties for non-payment or partial payment in case of payment after the due date.
  6. If we prepare a substitute return from the FPS Finance itself, we will use your commissions to settle this debt, including the negligence interest.
  7. At the end of each quarter, we will use your available commissions to settle all undisputed VAT debts for which you are still liable.
• Gradual rollout

Until May 1, 2025, your current account remains accessible and you can access your balances. From May 1, 2025, you will manage your balances through your commission account.

5. VAT refund
   • Via periodic VAT return

When you put a cross in your periodic VAT return from Jan. 1, 2025 to get your credit back, it is important to remember the following things:

• • • The credit claimed through your return is now limited to the amount in the schedule 72 of the periodic VAT return in which you claim the credit.
    • The credit can only be refunded if it is not used to pay tax or non-tax debts and if it is not withheld as a result of a garnishment, assignment of debt or other withholding imposed by your creditors. Starting in 2025, there is a new type of withholding. From then on, your credit may also be withheld if you fail to respond in a timely or complete manner to a demand for information.
    • If the credit can be refunded, this will be done for quarterly suppliers at the latest by the end of the third month following the return period of the periodic VAT return. For monthly suppliers, this deadline will be shortened to the second month following the return period of the periodic VAT return as of January 1, 2025. Taking into account the introduction of this new deadline for monthly declarants, the authorization for monthly refund will be abolished from January 1, 2025.
    • A refund is possible only if the following conditions are met:
      • The periodic VAT return claiming the credit was filed on time
      • The periodic VAT returns relating to the last 6 months preceding the return period and the return that gave rise to the credit were filed on time.
      • The credit is at least 50 euros.
      • You provided a valid bank account number in a timely and appropriate manner.

• • Via commission account
    • If you have not requested a refund in your periodic VAT return or if your refund request does not meet the conditions listed above, your credit will be placed in your commission account, provided it is not subject to withholding:
      • For monthly providers: at the end of the second month after the specified period
      • for quarterly employers: at the end of the third month following the specified period.
  • Prior to these installments, the balance is of course available to settle the next return. Any balance will be placed in the provision account according to the deadlines mentioned above.

• • Once the credit is available in your commission account, you can request its refund via MyMinfin. You can also request repayment of all or part of your funds already in your commission account.

• • We will refund you the requested amount within the month of your request, if it is at least 50 euros and subject to the following conditions:
    • You provided a valid bank account number in a timely and appropriate manner.
    • A balance remains after settlement of tax or non-tax debts or after any garnishment/transfer by one of your creditors.

6. Paying VAT

Payment of VAT must be made no later than the 20th day of the month following the specified period for monthly principals, and on the 25th day for quarterly principals.

Any delay in payment immediately results in negligence interest.

This delay will also result in a penalty for non-payment or partial payment. To help you avoid these additional costs, the FPS Finance makes available the commission account where you can make prepayments.

Once again this year, many business owners received a letter or email asking them to file their returns by April 30, 2025. What do you need to know about this?

Reprobel is the body responsible for the collection of reproduction remunerations. These are the remunerations for making prints and photocopies – digital or otherwise – of copyrighted works for internal use.

Because every time an employee copies or plucks a photo or text from the Internet, copyrights are owed on it.

The fee for this license ( called bizili) depends on the number of relevant employees and the sector in which you operate and is at least €40 (excluding 6% VAT) per year.

As a business owner, did you receive a letter or e-mail? Then you are obliged to file a declaration. This can be done via the digital Reprobel portal. In order to be legally covered, you can purchase a combined license. This covers the reproductions of both digital and printed works.

Especially in the group of smaller companies and self-employed, the number of returns increased sharply, by some 15,000 to 62,500. About half of newly founded companies and start-ups sign up for the combined license right away.

Reprobel has signed with more than 50 sector agreements. If you are a member of such an organization, you can get a discount on bizili. You can check this at: https://bizili.be/community/sector

Electronic invoicing: state of the art

From Jan. 1, 2026, structured electronic invoices will become the norm for transactions between Belgian companies. What you need to know about e-invoicing.

What is electronic invoicing or e-invoicing?

An electronic invoice or e-invoice is not a PDF you send to your customers via e-mail. Even though these have proven their worth, they do not offer all the benefits of e-invoices.

An e-invoice is an invoice in the xml file type and structured UBL format. That sounds technical, but the important thing is that these types of files are automatically recognized and processed by most accounting packages with minimal manual input. And that offers numerous advantages.

What are the benefits of e-invoices?

• Creating and sending invoices is lightning fast
• E-invoicing is 75% cheaper than paper invoicing
• Electronic invoices get paid faster
• Human error is excluded

Incoming and outgoing invoices are entered immediately upon receipt or shipment, so your accounting figures are always current. Your accounting thus becomes a useful tool for measuring the financial health of your business.

What does the law say about e-invoicing today?

EU Legislation The European Commission is moving ahead with a legislative proposal (ViDA) mandating e-invoicing for B2B transactions. The timing is as follows:

• By 2024 European member states will mandate e-invoicing tomorrow, without the consent of the European Parliament. Poland and Italy are already doing so today.
• By 2028, e-invoicing should be the norm within the EU. In addition, digital reporting of transactional data will also be required.

The Belgian government is pushing ahead with the mandatory introduction of e-invoicing. Parliament gave the go-ahead for legislation in early 2024. From Jan. 1, 2026, structured electronic invoices will become the norm in transactions between taxpaying companies. The European PEPPOL network will be used for the rollout.

The expected impact is significant, as 60% of invoices in Belgium today are sent via email. Some 25% of invoices already have a structured format.

Mandatory forms for demolition and reconstruction at 6% VAT

To apply the reduced VAT rate of 6% for demolition and reconstruction, certain conditions and formalities must be fulfilled. As a contractor, you must receive a copy of certain forms that your client is required to complete and submit online.

Demolition and reconstruction at 6%

Since January 1, 2024, it has been possible, under certain conditions, to demolish and rebuild a home with the reduced VAT rate of 6% and this throughout Belgium. This reduced rate only applies to construction contracts concluded with, in principle, a private client. The property must be the sole and own home of the principal and the habitable area must not exceed 200 m². These conditions must be observed for at least five years.

The application of the reduced rate in case of demolition and reconstruction also applies to dwellings intended to be rented out (since 01.06.2024). The area of the dwelling may not exceed 200 m². The landlord must rent the property to one or more successive tenants for at least 15 years? The tenants must establish their main residence there. Again, only construction contracts are eligible for the application of the reduced 6% rate.

Formalities

To qualify for the reduced VAT rate of 6%, the client must submit a specific form in advance through MyMinfin. Below is an overview of which form should be used and when.

The form must also be accompanied by a number of attachments, such as the environmental permit and contracts with the contractor. If the form is only submitted after the start of the works, only the VAT that became due after the submission may be invoiced at 6%.

The client must provide the contractor with a copy of the submitted form. With this copy, you as the contractor are basically exempt from liability if it later turns out that the reduced rate of 6% was wrongly applied.

However, the contractor must include the reference number of the submitted form on the invoice.

Reclaiming your VAT credit: changes from 2025

The Law to modernize the VAT chain (Law of 12.03.2023, BS 23.03.2023) also causes the refund procedure for a quarterly principal to change. What exactly is the situation?

Procedure refund of a VAT credit until 31.12.2024?

The general principle applies here: the VAT credit is carried forward to the next tax period (Art. 8/1, §1 RD No. 4). If you want your VAT credit back, you must explicitly request it from the VAT, by checking the box “Request for refund” in your quarterly VAT return.

What VAT credit will you get back?

If the conditions are met, you will be refunded the entire outstanding VAT credit, i.e., not only the credit as shown in the submitted return, but also the credit still outstanding in the VAT current account.

What conditions must be met?

Your VAT return showing your VAT credit must have been filed on time. In addition, all previous VAT returns must also have been filed on the filing date of the VAT return showing the VAT credit and, finally, your credit as a quarterly principal must be at least €400.00 (€50.00 at the end of the year).

Change 1 from 2025: only VAT credit of period itself!

From 2025, your refund request can only relate to the VAT credit of the return in question. An accumulation of any previous balances will no longer be refunded. The accumulated surpluses in your VAT current account (which will be called commission account from then on) must be claimed back separately via the MyMinfin portal.

Change 2: A refund under different conditions.

A quarterly credit will only be refunded to you when:

(1) all returns for the last six months have been filed on time; and

(2) the refund is at least €50.00.

If these conditions are met, you will get your VAT credit back within a maximum period of three months after the return period of the declaration in which a refund was requested (Law of 12.03.2023, BS 23.03.2023).

Investment deductions: changes in 2025?

If you invest in new tangible or intangible fixed assets used for your business activities in Belgium, you can claim the investment deduction. In accordance with the law of May 12, 2024, and this for assets acquired or created from January 1, 2025, a new regulation on “investment deduction” applies. For “older assets”, the old regulations remain in force.

The following rules will continue to apply in 2025:

• the scheme remains reserved for those who enjoy “profits” or “gains” in personal income tax and those who are subject to corporate income tax or GNI/venn.
• The investment must be a newly acquired or constructed “tangible fixed asset” or qualify as a newly acquired “intangible fixed asset”. It must be used in Belgium for professional purposes. The asset must be depreciable over at least three years.
• the existing exclusions remain (e.g., for assets that are only partially used professionally or whose use is ceded to a third party, unless they themselves can apply the investment deduction).
• if the taxpayer does not have sufficient taxable basis to fully utilize the investment deduction, the excess remains transferable to subsequent taxable periods; the basic deduction is only transferable for one year;
• an SME can only claim the ordinary deduction if the fixed assets are directly related to the current or future economic activity actually being performed.

Until now, the legislature confirmed annual percentages for investment deductions (i.e., the old regulation). From now on, a fixed statutory percentage per type of investment applies as follows: The thresholds for being considered an SME have been raised as of fiscal year 2024 (Art. 1:24, §§1-6, WVV) . For the last completed fiscal year, no more than one of the following criteria may be exceeded:

• annual average headcount: 50 employees;
• Annual sales excluding VAT: €11,250,000;
• total assets: €6,000,000.

There will be three categories of investment deductions. The new flat rates do allow taxpayers to apply only to one type of deduction. Higher basic deduction for sole proprietors and SMEs: The rate of the “basic deduction” will be increased from 8% to 10%, for “digital fixed assets” you can obtain a 20% deduction.

The increased “green” thematic deduction of 30% (non-SME) or 40% (SME and natural person) applies to green investments such as:

• investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy;
• investments in carbon emission-free transportation;
• environmentally friendly investments;
• supporting digital investments.

The legislature did impose some restrictions on these thematic investment deductions:

• No application possible by companies in difficulty or companies having to repay unduly received state aid.
• Apply only to fixed assets for which no regional aid is requested
• No application if the investment causes unreasonable harm to the environment
• Attestation can only be granted if the investment appears on one of the lists.
• Existing R&D and patent deduction becomes “technology deduction”

The technology deduction provides a 13.5% deduction when the taxpayer invests in “patents” and “fixed assets aimed at R&D of environmentally friendly products and future-oriented technologies. Exceptionally, the technology deduction for R&D investments can be applied on a staggered basis according to the depreciation of the asset. The deduction percentage is then 20.5%.

Suspicious period in gifts goes from three to five years in Flanders as of 01.01.2025

In Flanders, the so-called suspect period for unregistered gifts would go from three years to five years as of Jan. 1, 2025. What exactly does that mean for you if you want to donate something? Should you really hurry or not?

To register a donation or not? It is allowed, but not required as far as a gift of chattel is concerned. A real estate gift is always subject to (progressive) gift tax, but for a moveable gift you may choose what you do. In the case you register, you pay the gift tax of 3% in the direct line and between partners and 7% between everyone else. On the other hand, when you die, the person who receives the gift no longer has to pay inheritance tax on the gifted property.

If the gift is movable property, you are not required to register. You can also work with a hand or bank donation. In that case, no gift tax is due if you do not have that hand gift registered.

If no gift tax is paid, then you should consider a “suspect period.” This means that if the donor were to die within a certain period of time after the gift, the donee will still have to pay inheritance tax on that gift.

What will change as of 01.01.2025?

Until 31.12.2024, this period in the Flemish region is three years, but from 01.01.2025 it will be five years. For a non-registered hand or bank donation from that date, you will then have to live another five years for the donee not to have to pay inheritance tax.

If no registration occurs at the time of the hand gift, then registration can be done later on a voluntary basis. You can do this in three ways:

• online, through MyMinfin, by uploading the donation documents;
• (ii) by mail, by sending the donation documents to the appropriate scanning center;
• (iii) by appointment in an office Legal Security (registration office).

For unregistered donations up to 31.12.2024, the suspect period of three years continues to apply. Only for new unregistered donations from 01.01.2025 will the longer period of five years apply. Subsequent registration (e.g. in case of serious illness of donor) remains possible, as well as entering into an insurance that pays the inheritance tax in case of death during the suspect period.