The formula fits on one line. So do the two mistakes people make — and both of them cost you money.
The VAT sits inside the margin.
That single sentence is where almost every wrong calculation goes astray. Your margin is not an amount you add VAT to — it is an amount that already contains VAT, and you have to take it back out.
Not sure what the margin scheme actually is yet? Start with What is margin VAT? — this page is only about the arithmetic.
A cabinet bought for €500 and sold for €900, at a rate of 21%.
On that same cabinet, with a margin of €400, the three sums produce very different answers:
Add 21% on top of the margin instead of extracting it, and you hand over roughly €15 too much on every €400 of margin.
The margin splits into two parts: the part that is yours, and the part that belongs to the state. The first is called the taxable base.
Base + VAT = margin. If that sum does not add up, neither does your calculation.
This is where countries part ways, and where most of the advice online will lead you astray — a great deal of it describes the per-item method, which is not how Belgium works.
You settle up item by item. A loss on one piece counts as zero and is never set against the profit on another.
All purchases and all sales in the VAT return period are added up first. Only then do you take the difference. This is how the Belgian scheme looks at it.
Belgian Royal Decree no. 53 puts it plainly: the taxable base is the profit margin assessed per return period. Not per item — all goods together, per quarter or per month.
If you trade elsewhere, check your own rules first. The UK, for instance, runs its own margin scheme with different thresholds and record-keeping.
There it starts one step earlier, and that is the part most often missing: below the threshold you pay no VAT at all. You only have to register once your taxable turnover over the last twelve months goes above £90,000, or as soon as you expect to pass it within the next thirty days. Stay below it and you charge no VAT and remit none.
If you are registered, the UK margin scheme applies to second-hand goods, antiques and collectors’ items: you pay one sixth of your margin — 16.67% — and not on the full selling price. The same idea as ours, by a different route.
Piece by piece. A loss on one piece does not offset the profit on another. In the UK this is the ordinary way.
Per period after all, like the Belgian globalisation: all purchases and all sales are added up first. Meant for high volumes of low-priced pieces — at most £500 per item — and a negative period is carried forward to the next one.
⚠️ So do not carry the Belgian rule above over to the UK. There, per piece is the rule and per period the exception; in Belgium it is the other way round.
What you enter in Vintro Pro: 20, not 16.67. The program works the VAT out of the margin, just as it does here: 20/120 is exactly that sixth. Enter 16.67 and the figure comes out too low.
Source: gov.uk — when to register and gov.uk — VAT margin schemes. Thresholds and rates change: check them with HMRC or your accountant before you file.
The difference between the two methods only shows up once one piece sells at a loss:
| Item | Purchase | Sale | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| English display cabinet | €100 | €300 | +€200 |
| Bronze figure | €500 | €400 | −€100 |
| Together over the quarter | €600 | €700 | €100 |
The margin for the period is €100. On that you owe €17.36, and the taxable base is €82.64.
Had you calculated per item, the €100 loss would have counted as zero — and you would have paid €34.71. Twice as much.
Enter the margin goods you sold in this period. Purchase and sale price per item — we will do the rest.
| Total purchases | €0.00 |
| Total sales | €0.00 |
| Taxable base | €0.00 |
| Margin for the period | €0.00 |
This period ends negative. No VAT is due — and nothing comes back to you either. The shortfall can usually be carried over to the next period.
A helping hand, not a VAT return. Which method you may apply depends on your country and on what you have agreed with your accountant.
If in one quarter you sell for less in total than you bought for, the margin is negative. No VAT is due — but no money comes back either. A negative margin is not a credit.
What does happen: the shortfall can be carried over to the next period, where it reduces the margin there. With one exception — that carry-over does not apply in the final period of the financial year. Put it to your accountant before you rely on it.
The formula is the easy part. The real work sits in the records underneath it:
Without a purchase price per item there is no margin to calculate — and so no margin VAT.
Under the margin scheme you do not state the VAT amount separately. The customer sees a single total. The invoice does have to refer to the scheme applied:
"Special scheme — second-hand goods"
Check which exact wording is required in your country.
Nobody enjoys redoing this by hand, quarter after quarter.
Vintro Pro keeps the purchase price, sale price and sale date for every item, and turns that into a margin VAT overview for any period you choose — total purchases, total sales, margin, taxable base and VAT due, using the globalisation method. As a PDF too, ready for your accountant.
Where to find this in the app: the 📦 (stock) tab → 🛠️ Actions → under Reports → 🧾 Margin VAT calculation. Fill in From, Up to and including and your VAT rate, then click Calculate. You get every sold piece with its own margin, and below it Total purchase prices, Total sale prices, Margin, Taxable amount (margin excl. VAT) and the VAT due. If the period ends negative, the screen warns you. One button turns it into a PDF.
No. The margin already includes VAT. You calculate margin × 21/121. On a margin of €100 that is €17.36, not €21.00.
In Belgium the profit margin is assessed per VAT return period. You add up all purchases and all sales in the period, and only then take the difference.
Under the globalisation method that loss reduces the profit on your other items in the same period. You count it in, rather than treating it as zero.
No VAT is due, and nothing is refunded either. The shortfall can usually be carried over to the next period. Check this with your accountant.
Vintro Pro tracks the purchase and sale price of every item and has your margin VAT overview ready per period — PDF for your accountant included.