As a Small Business under the Franchisee regime, Accountable automatically adds the required legal mention to your invoices, so you stay compliant without any extra steps.
The exact mention depends on where your client is located and whether you are selling goods or services. This article covers each situation.
Please note that this article provides general guidance only. Tax rules may vary depending on your individual situation. When in doubt, ask your Tax Coach.
What is the Franchisee regime?
Anyone who sets up their own business in Belgium is generally required to charge VAT on their products or services and pay it to the FOD (tax office). There is, however, an exception that exempts you from paying VAT: the Franchisee regime.
As a Franchisee, you do not charge VAT to your clients.
This can be beneficial: when selling to private individuals in Belgium, you will be more competitive, because not charging VAT mechanically lowers your prices by 21%.
This is possible as long as you do not exceed the income limit of 25,000 € per year (counting only revenue from clients in Belgium). In that case, you can optionally request to benefit from the Franchisee regime.
For more details on when and how to switch from Franchisee to Subject to VAT, read how and when to go from Franchisee to Subject to VAT.
What should I write on the invoice when selling to clients in Belgium 🇧🇪?
To be legally correct, your invoice must state why you do not charge VAT: "Special VAT exemption scheme for small enterprises".
Accountable adds this automatically when you create an invoice:
How about sales outside of Belgium and within the European Union (EU) 🇪🇺?
📌 Intra-EU income from B2B clients is not counted towards your 25,000 € profit limit.
Sales of Services (B2B)
Both you and your client must have a valid VAT number.
Sales of services are made under the reverse-charge regime. Your invoice must include the relevant article reference: "Reverse Charge - art. 196 VAT Directive 2006/112/CE".
Accountable adds this phrase automatically based on the item category:
You will also need to file an additional tax report for these transactions: the intracom listing, filed every quarter on Intervat.
Sales of Goods (B2B)
Invoicing is straightforward. You issue your invoice without VAT and refer to your status as a Franchisee: "Special VAT exemption scheme for small enterprises".
In Accountable, the correct phrasing is added automatically based on the item category:
Sales to private individuals (B2C)
When you sell to a private individual in Europe, your invoice follows the same rules as when selling in Belgium. It must include the reference to the Franchisee regime: "Special VAT exemption scheme for small enterprises".
Accountable adds this sentence automatically.
Note that in this case, you do not need to mention the name of your client in the B2C transaction.
How about sales outside of the European Union (EU) 🌍?
When you sell goods, a legal note is added to your invoice stating "Article 39 - Export of goods".
When you sell services, a legal note is added to your invoice stating "Article 39 - Export of services".
📌 If you earn significant income from B2C sales in a single country outside the EU, you may need to register as a business locally and collect and pay local VAT.
Key takeaways
As a Franchisee, you do not charge VAT and Accountable adds the required legal mention to your invoices automatically.
For Belgian clients and B2C sales in Europe, the mention is: "Special VAT exemption scheme for small enterprises".
For intra-EU B2B services, the reverse-charge regime applies and you must file a quarterly intracom listing on Intervat.
For sales outside the EU, the mention is "Article 39 - Export of goods" or "Article 39 - Export of services" depending on what you sell.
Intra-EU B2B income does not count towards your 25,000 € annual limit.
Need help? Chat with us or email support@accountable.eu, we're happy to help.