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Not every secondhand item automatically qualifies as a margin good — discover which items do, and which don't.
Which law? This page follows the Belgian rules. The Netherlands, France and the UK differ — you will find the comparison further down this page.
Margin goods are goods that may be sold under the VAT margin scheme.
VAT is then calculated not on the full sale price, but only on the margin realised between purchase and sale.
No VAT is charged when buying from a private individual.
Without a margin scheme, the same item would be taxed multiple times — the scheme ensures only the added value gets taxed.
Six categories that come up most often in practice.
Two of the goods above — art objects and collectors' items and antiques — now follow a stricter rule inside the EU. If the piece was bought or imported at a reduced VAT rate, it can no longer be resold under the margin scheme. The sale falls under the normal regime instead, and that VAT becomes deductible.
The question is not what you sold, but at which rate you bought it.
⚠️ This does not apply to the UK. The UK sits outside the EU directive, so the HMRC VAT margin scheme is unchanged. It matters the moment you buy stock in the EU: France and the Netherlands have applied the exclusion since 1 January 2025 — in the Netherlands for pieces bought at 9% — and Belgium since 31 December 2025. For ordinary second-hand goods nothing changes anywhere.
⚠️ Still holding such a piece in stock? In Belgium there is a deadline. This is a Belgian catch-up measure; it does not apply in the other three countries. The VAT you did not deduct at purchase because you were applying the margin scheme can still be deducted — but in a return filed before the end of 2026. It covers pieces acquired or imported from 2022 onwards, provided you sell them under the normal regime and can document when you acquired them. For more recent purchases the ordinary deadline applies: the end of the third calendar year following the year the VAT became due.
Signposting, not advice. EU: Directive (EU) 2022/542, art. 1(20), amending art. 316 of Directive 2006/112/EC. France: loi de finances n° 2023-1322 of 29 December 2023, art. 83. Belgium: law of 19 December 2025 (Belgian Official Gazette, 31 December 2025), in force on 31 December 2025, the day of publication; circular 2026/C/14 of 13 January 2026, section 2.2.2, for the deduction window to the end of 2026 and the 2022 cut-off; the ordinary three-year deadline in art. 4, second paragraph, Royal Decree no. 3. Netherlands: supplementary margin scheme withdrawn for purchases at 9% since 1 January 2025, measured 10 September 2026 on Ondernemersplein (overheid.nl) and the Belastingdienst site. Measured 10 September 2026 on Fisconetplus (Belgian FPS Finance), 31 August 2026 on eur-lex.europa.eu and bofip.impots.gouv.fr. The FPS Finance general explainer page on the margin scheme had not been updated on 8 September 2026; the circular itself is on Fisconetplus — that is where your accountant will find it. We are monitoring this and will update this page as soon as the FPS does. Check your own situation with your accountant.
No — this is one of the most common misconceptions.
How the item was purchased plays the decisive role. Ask yourself:
And watch the reverse question, which surprises almost everyone: something never used — still in its box — can still be a margin good. What counts is not the wear but the VAT a private individual bore for good. Why an unused item still counts as second-hand.
The test above holds for any goods. What differs per type is where the exclusion list touches your piece: for jewellery it is the precious metal, for electronics the renovation and for wine, in Belgium, the first use. 34 types are worked out separately, each with the sentence from the tax authority the answer comes from.
Yes — and not by coincidence. In the UK, HMRC runs its own margin scheme, with second-hand goods defined as those suitable for further use as they are, or after repair, and antiques as goods over 100 years old.
Belgium, the Netherlands and France all draw their definition from article 311 of Directive 2006/112/EC, written into three separate national codes. The wording matches the British one closely — but since Brexit the UK is no longer bound by the directive, so the two can drift apart.
Three situations each need their own treatment: a margin good you sell to a customer in another country, which stays a margin sale; a piece you buy in another EU country, where the question is whether your supplier applies the margin scheme or reverse-charges the VAT; and a piece you bring in from the UK, which since Brexit is an import — the British margin scheme does not travel with it.
no longer bound by the EU directive
registers set out in Royal Decree no. 53 of 23 December 1994
the directive's definition of second-hand goods; the scheme itself is in art. 28b onwards
the directive's definition, own code
One thing every country still decides for itself: the directive excludes precious metals and gemstones from the margin scheme but leaves it to each Member State to define what that covers. If you sell jewellery, check it for the country you sell in — not the one you live in.
Five real-world situations — decide each time whether it's a margin good.
Margin goods are almost always unique items — you can't operate like a classic shop. For each item, you should ideally know:
A dealer buys three different items — each tracked separately:
Because each piece is unique, this info can't be reconstructed afterwards if it wasn't recorded.
Not recording the purchase priceWithout a purchase price, no correct margin can be calculated.
Not keeping photosPhotos help identify unique items later.
Registering items togetherRecording several pieces as one purchase makes margin calculation difficult.
No location trackingMany dealers know what they have, but not where it is.
No insight into stock ageThis is how dead stock builds up unnoticed.
Revenue only tells part of the story:
Bought €50 → Sold €200
Bought €180 → Sold €250
Both sales generate the same revenue — but the margin differs sharply.
Per item, a complete historical record is built up.
Where to find this in the app: on every item you set Purchase proof to say where the piece came from — Market purchase (private individual), Receipt, or Neither if there is already an invoice. That is exactly what you must be able to show in order to apply the margin scheme. Fill in the Margin scheme goods sale price field as well and the piece is automatically included in that period’s margin VAT calculation.
No. The origin of the item and the circumstances of purchase determine whether the margin scheme may be applied.
Normally not. New goods usually fall under the standard VAT scheme.
Because without a purchase price, no margin can be calculated.
Because most margin goods are unique items that need to be easily identifiable later.
Vintro Pro keeps purchase price, sale price, photos and margin together per item — calculated automatically, ready for your accountant.