Since 1 January 2025, persons liable to pay tax established in Belgium can benefit from tax exemption in one or several other Member States thanks to the SME scheme. 

As with the VAT exemption scheme applied in Belgium, the SME scheme involves the following principles:

• non-taxation of outgoing transactions by persons liable to pay VAT and benefiting from this scheme,
• non-deduction of input VAT paid on goods and services used to carry out exempted transactions.

You can apply for the SME scheme in another Member State if, in Belgium, you are a small business subject to the VAT exemption scheme or the standard taxation scheme.

• The registered seat of your business is based in Belgium.
• Your annual turnover in the European Union does not exceed 100,000 EUR (European annual threshold).
• Your turnover in the Member State in which you are not established does not exceed the threshold applicable in that Member State for granting exemption (national annual threshold).
• You carry out transactions that are not excluded from the scope of the exemption scheme.

To qualify for the SME scheme, you must:

• introduce a prior notification in Belgium via a new module in Intervat (under development) and
• file quarterly SME reports with your turnover.

You must submit a request for deregistration via Intervat in the first two months of the quarter preceding the quarter in which you intend to stop applying for the scheme (voluntary cessation).

If you submit your request for deregistration in the last month of a quarter, it will take effect as from the first day of the second month of the following quarter. 

You will be excluded from the scheme if:

• your annual turnover in the European Union exceeded the threshold of 100,000 EUR,
• your turnover in the Member State in which you are not established exceeded the national annual threshold applicable in that Member State. In this case, you will be excluded from the exemption scheme in that Member State, but you may continue to benefit from this scheme in other Member States, provided you do not exceed the European annual threshold,
• you have given notice, or it can be presumed by other means, that you have ceased your economic activities.

EU

• Council Directive (EU) 2020/285 of 18 February 2020 amending Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax as regards the special scheme for small enterprises and Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 as regards the administrative cooperation and exchange of information for the purpose of monitoring the correct application of the special scheme for small enterprises

BE

• Royal Decree n° 19 relating to the value added tax exemption scheme in favour of small businesses
• Law amending the Value Added Tax Code as regards the special tax exemption scheme applicable to small businesses (Belgian Official Journal of  9 April 2024)