Vintro Pro
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Vintro Pro
NL · FR · EN
Means of transport are named outright. And still this is the type that causes the most arguments — because of one rule that redefines the word “new”.
Used cars fall under the margin scheme, with a catch in the word “new”.
Second-hand means of transport fall under the margin scheme. Watch the European new-means-of-transport rule: it looks at kilometres and months, not at what you call second-hand.
Belgium’s FPS Finance names second-hand means of transport separately in the scheme, including cars, motorcycles, caravans, boats, aircraft and helicopters. For ordinary resale that settles the question.
What sets the car trade apart is that “new” has its own VAT meaning here. A vehicle can have been driven and still be treated as a new means of transport — and then something else applies.
A car bought from a private individual, from a leasing company without a right to deduct, or from a colleague working under the margin carries no deductible VAT. That is exactly what the scheme is for.
Buy from a garage with VAT on the invoice and it is an ordinary purchase with deduction. The same car, a different route — and that route is fixed at purchase, not at sale.
Belgium’s FPS Finance defines second-hand goods as “tangible movable property that is suitable for further use as it is or after repair”. Excluded are, among others, new goods, precious metals, precious stones and pearls, renovated goods, goods that are consumed on first use, and goods that cannot be used again in the same state.
That is the whole test, and it is a test about the goods, not about your trade. Alongside second-hand goods, FPS Finance explicitly names works of art, collectors’ items, antiques and second-hand means of transport. The scheme sits in article 58, § 4 of the Belgian VAT Code and is worked out in Royal Decree no. 53 of 23 December 1994. This page describes the Belgian scheme; the four-country panel below shows where the Dutch, French and UK rules diverge.
The example is a classic car: bought for €6,500.00, sold for €9,200.00. Put your own figures in.
Sold at a loss: there is no margin, so no VAT is due. A negative margin does not give you anything back either.
The VAT is inside the margin, not on top of it. That is the mistake this calculator is built to prevent: 21% on a €400 margin is €84, while you owe €69.42. How to do this across a whole return period — and why France calculates piece by piece by law — is set out in How do you calculate margin VAT?
The most important crossing is the European rule on new means of transport. It looks at the age of the vehicle and the distance driven, not at the word in the advert. If a vehicle falls under it on a cross-border sale, the VAT runs along a very different route than the margin.
Beyond that the ordinary exclusions apply. A vehicle bought to be broken and sold as parts is goods out of use. And a vehicle converted so heavily that it can no longer be identified as the same goods falls outside as well.
Whether used cars fall under the scheme is answered the same way in all four countries: it is European law. The rate and the calculation method are not.
Margin across the whole return period. Article 58, § 4 VAT Code and RD no. 53.
Globalisation scheme or individual method. Wet OB 1968, article 28b onwards.
Legally piece by piece. Globalisation is an option there, not the default. CGI art. 297 A.
HMRC’s own scheme, outside the EU. Below the registration threshold you pay nothing.
On a supply to a buyer in another member state that rule joins in. It sits apart from the margin scheme and overrides it.
The margin is selling price minus purchase price. A new timing belt does not lower your margin, only your profit.
If you deducted VAT at purchase, the car is not margin goods. The choice is made at purchase, not afterwards.
A margin invoice carries no VAT amount. On amounts of thousands of euros that is not a detail.
Written on 8 September 2026. The scheme, the definition of second-hand goods and the exclusions were measured on 8 September 2026 at Belgium’s FPS Finance, Regeling van belastingheffing over de marge, which names article 58, § 4 of the VAT Code and Royal Decree no. 53 of 23 December 1994 as its basis. Since 1 January 2026 the law of 19 December 2025 excludes goods bought at a reduced rate from the margin scheme — explained in circular 2026/C/14 of 13 January 2026, measured via eur-lex.europa.eu on 31 August 2026. FPS Finance has not yet updated its own page on that point — re-checked on 10 September 2026.
This is an explanation, not tax advice. Whether the margin scheme is the right choice in your case, and how to enter it in your return, is a question for your accountant.
Yes. Belgium's FPS Finance explicitly names second-hand means of transport among the goods the margin scheme applies to, including cars, motorcycles, caravans, boats and aircraft. The basis is article 58, § 4 of the Belgian VAT Code and Royal Decree no. 53 of 23 December 1994. HMRC operates a comparable second-hand motor vehicle scheme in the UK.
No. The scheme is for goods bought without deductible VAT — from a private individual, a non-taxable person or a seller working under the margin themselves. If you bought with VAT and deducted it, you sell with ordinary VAT on the full price.
No. The margin is the difference between the selling price you ask and the purchase price you paid your supplier. Parts, hours and inspection sit outside it.
In Belgium, €468.60. The margin is €2,700, and €2,700 × 21/121 gives €468.60. Charge 21% on top of that margin and you land on €567 — almost a hundred euros too much on a single car.
The same question, a different kind of piece. The answer differs more often than you would expect.
Every piece gets its own purchase price, selling price and scheme. Vintro Pro keeps margin goods separate from the rest and works out your margin per return period.
Free up to 10 pieces, no card number and no end date.