Set up Belgian taxes in your Shopify store

In this article, we’ll discuss:

• Tax settings
  • Display product prices including VAT
  • Display product prices excluding VAT
• Tax rates in Belgium and the EU
  • Selling physical goods to customers in Belgium
  • Selling physical goods to customers in other EU countries
    • Selling within the micro-business threshold
    • Surpassing the micro-business threshold
    • Selling with a country-specific registration
  • Selling digital goods
    • The VAT rules when selling digital services
• Invoices

If you want to charge VAT to some customers but not others, you have two options depending on how you would like to display your product prices.

If you mainly sell to consumers (B2C), display your product prices with VAT included. Belgian consumer law requires prices shown to consumers to include VAT.

To display your product prices with VAT included:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Settings → Taxes and duties page.
2. In the Additional configuration section, turn on Include sales tax in product price and shipping rate.
3. Click Save to apply the changes.

Optionally, you can enable dynamic tax inclusion. This Shopify feature automatically includes or excludes tax based on the customer's region and adjusts the tax rate accordingly.

To activate dynamic tax inclusion:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Markets page and click the market you want to configure.
2. In the Inherited section, click the + icon next to Taxes and duties.
3. Under Tax display, select Dynamic tax display, then click Done.
4. Click Save to apply the changes.

If you sell mainly to businesses (B2B), you'll probably want to display your product prices without VAT.

To display your product prices excluding VAT:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Settings → Taxes and duties page.
2. In the Additional configuration section, turn off Include sales tax in product price and shipping rate.
3. Click Save to apply the changes.

To disable dynamic tax inclusion in a market and show VAT as a separate line at checkout:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Markets page and click the market you want to configure.
2. In the Inherited section, click the + icon next to Taxes and duties.
3. Under Tax display, select Show as line item, then click Done.
4. Click Save to apply the changes.

The standard VAT rate (BTW, or Belasting over de toegevoegde waarde, in Dutch; TVA, or Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutée, in French) in Belgium is 21%.

Reduced VAT rates of 12%, 6%, and 0% also apply to certain goods and services, including food and beverages, books, newspapers, and passenger transport.

Since March 1, 2026, hotel and camping stays have moved from 6% to 12%. A transitional rule applies: the 6% rate still applies to accommodation bookings made on or before February 28, 2026, provided the VAT became due by June 30, 2026. Planned changes for take-away meals, sport, culture, and non-alcoholic drinks served in restaurants were withdrawn until further notice after a critical opinion from the Council of State, so their rates remain unchanged for now.

Whether you sell physical goods or digital services to consumers (B2C) in the EU, the VAT rate you charge depends on your total taxable turnover from cross-border sales to other EU countries.

Sales of both physical goods and digital services count toward the same threshold.

If you charge VAT (and don't use the small business exemption), you should always charge Belgian VAT when you sell physical goods to customers in Belgium—regardless of whether the customer is VAT-registered.

If you use the small business exemption, you don't charge VAT on your sales.

When selling to non-VAT-registered customers outside Belgium but within the EU, the VAT rate you charge depends on whether you exceed the €10,000 cross-border threshold (excluding VAT).

If you're selling to VAT-registered businesses in other EU countries, you don't charge VAT, as long as they have a valid EU VAT number.

Shopify calculates the tax rate automatically based on the registration type set in your tax settings.

If your taxable turnover from cross-border B2C sales to customers in other EU countries remains at or below €10,000 (excluding VAT) during the current and previous calendar year, you can continue charging Belgian VAT to non-VAT-registered customers throughout the European Union.

This rule only applies if your business is established only in Belgium and your goods are shipped from Belgium.

You can also choose to charge the customer's country rate from the first euro, but that choice binds you for two calendar years.

This €10,000 threshold is separate from the EU SME VAT exemption introduced in 2025.

For example, if your business is located in Belgium and you sell goods to consumers in France and Germany, and your combined cross-border B2C sales remain at or below the €10,000 threshold, you charge the Belgian VAT rate of 21%.

To configure Shopify to charge Belgian VAT on eligible cross-border B2C sales:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Settings → Taxes and duties page.
2. In the Tax regions section, click European Union.
3. In the Collect VAT cross-border section, click Collect VAT.
4. In the Collect across the EU window, select Collect using your home country registration.
5. Select your Country of registration and enter your VAT number. Leave this field blank if you've applied for a VAT number but don't have one yet. You can update it later.
6. Click Collect VAT to save your changes.

Once your combined cross-border B2C sales exceed the €10,000 threshold during the current or previous calendar year, you must charge VAT based on your customer's country.

This means customers from different EU countries should be charged different VAT rates, ranging from 17% to 27%.

Most businesses meet this obligation by registering for the One-Stop Shop (OSS) scheme, although local VAT registrations may still be required in certain situations.

For example, if your combined sales to customers in all other EU countries exceed the €10,000 threshold, you’d charge French VAT at 20% on goods sold in France and German VAT at 19% on goods sold in Germany.

The One-Stop Shop (OSS) scheme lets you charge VAT at the rate of the country you're selling to while filing a single OSS VAT return instead of registering separately in multiple EU countries.

To charge your French and German customers the correct VAT rate, you need to set your tax settings accordingly.

Shopify lets you select OSS as your VAT registration type so it can automatically apply the correct VAT rates.

To set VAT rates for the OSS scheme and charge your customers' country VAT rate on eligible cross-border B2C sales:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Settings → Taxes and duties page.
2. In the Tax regions section, click European Union.
3. In the Collect VAT cross-border section, click Collect VAT.
4. In the Collect across the EU window, select Collect using a One-Stop Shop (OSS) registration.
5. Select your Country of OSS registration and enter your VAT number. Leave this field blank if you've applied for a VAT number but don't have one yet. You can update it later.
6. Click Collect VAT to save your changes.

Now your customers' shipping country VAT rate will automatically apply to all EU sales.

You need a local VAT registration in another EU country if you make taxable sales there that OSS doesn't cover, for example, if you store stock in that country and ship to customers from there.

In that case, you can no longer use the €10,000 threshold.

If that's your situation, add a local VAT registration number in Shopify so it can automatically apply the correct VAT rate.

To add a local VAT registration number:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Settings → Taxes and duties page.
2. In the Tax regions section, click European Union.
3. In the Collect VAT in an EU country section, click Collect VAT (or Collect in another location if you already have a registration).
4. Select the Registration country and enter your VAT number. Leave this field blank if you've applied for a VAT number but don't have one yet. You can update it later.
5. Click Collect VAT to save your changes.

If you can't select the additional country you're VAT-registered in, you may need to create a shipping zone first.

To create a shipping zone:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Settings → Shipping and delivery page.
2. In the Shipping profiles section, click the profile you want to add the zone to (for example, General profile).
3. In the Shipping zones section, click + Zone.
4. Name the zone, add the country (or countries) you're VAT-registered in using the search bar, and click Done.
5. Add shipping rates to make the zone available.
6. Click Save to apply the changes.

Special rules apply when selling digital services from Belgium to other EU countries. But first, it's important to understand exactly what digital services are.

Digital goods or services include radio and television broadcasting services, telecommunication services, and electronically supplied services, such as online magazines, music, films, and games.

Just because a company uses the internet to facilitate trading doesn't mean it provides e-services.

For example, selling goods where the order and processing happen electronically (as through a Shopify store) isn't a supply of digital services. This counts as a regular sale of goods and follows the usual VAT rules described above.

The VAT rules when selling digital services

If you supply digital services from Belgium to other EU countries, the same €10,000 threshold described above applies.

Your digital sales count toward the same EU-wide total as your physical goods sales, not on top of it.

This means that as long as your combined turnover from goods and digital services to non-VAT-registered customers elsewhere in the EU stays at or below €10,000, you can keep charging Belgian VAT.

Once that combined total exceeds €10,000, you must charge VAT at the rate of the customer's country for both goods and digital services going forward.

If you sell digital services to VAT-registered businesses, they're responsible for accounting for any VAT due in their own country under the reverse charge.

Registering for VAT in multiple countries can take a lot of time and effort. Shopify store owners in Belgium selling to other EU countries can register for the One-Stop Shop (OSS) instead.

The OSS scheme lets you report the VAT due on your goods and digital services in your own country through a single web portal.

If you sell goods from Belgium to customers outside the EU, whether B2B or B2C, these sales are exempt from Belgian VAT. This means you don't charge Belgian VAT on your invoices.

Once you've configured your tax settings correctly in Shopify, Sufio can generate invoices with detailed VAT breakdowns.

Since January 1, 2026, most domestic B2B transactions in Belgium require structured electronic invoices. Sufio supports Peppol e-invoicing for Belgian Shopify stores, allowing merchants to send qualifying invoices and credit notes through the Peppol network.

Invoices can be created in multiple languages and include all the necessary details to make them compliant with invoicing legislation in the EU.

Issuing invoices with the correct tax breakdown is essential for your bookkeeping and tax purposes.

If you are selling to businesses (B2B), Sufio invoices display all the required information, including the VAT registration number (BTW-nr orBTW identificatienummer in Dutch,n° TVA or Numéro de TVA in French) of your online store and your business customers.