Vintro Pro
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Vintro Pro
NL · FR · EN
Here the exclusion of goods out of use sits closer to your stock than for any other type.
Reusable building materials fall under the margin; demolition waste does not.
Reclaimed building materials fall under the margin scheme as long as they can be used again. Demolition waste and material that only serves as raw material falls outside.
Reclamation is a trade where the exclusion list plays a part daily. A lifted internal door, a batch of old tiles or a cast-iron radiator can be used again.
Rubble, crushed concrete and material that only serves as raw material cannot. And that is exactly the distinction on the exclusion list.
The definition of second-hand goods turns on reuse: tangible movable property usable again, as it is or after repair. A door you sand and rehang fits that.
Buy from a private individual, from a contractor without VAT or from a colleague working under the margin, and there is no deductible VAT. If there is VAT on the invoice and you deduct it, it is an ordinary purchase.
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 batch of old tiles: bought for €180.00, sold for €520.00. 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?
Goods that can no longer be used in the same state are excluded, with goods out of use named explicitly. Demolition waste belongs there, even when it still fetches money.
A second line is renovation. A beam you dress and resell stays the same beam; a window frame rebuilt from old timber is different goods from what you bought.
Whether building materials 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.
Goods out of use are named on the exclusion list.
If you deducted VAT at purchase, the material is not margin goods.
In reclamation you almost always work in batches. Royal Decree no. 53 asks for registers, not a split after the fact.
Separate bookkeeping, or at least separate columns, is required for margin sales.
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, as long as they can be used again. Belgium's FPS Finance defines second-hand goods as tangible movable property suitable for further use as it is or after repair. A lifted door, old tiles or a radiator fit that.
That falls outside. The tax authority excludes goods that can no longer be used in the same state, naming goods out of use explicitly. That it still fetches money changes nothing.
Then it is an ordinary purchase with deduction, not margin goods. With purchases from contractors and demolition firms that is the case you meet most often.
In Belgium, €59.01. The margin is €340, and €340 × 21/121 gives €59.01.
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.