Margin VAT on second-hand cameras

Second-hand cameras fall under the margin scheme.

A used camera or lens is tangible movable property that can be used again. That clears the tax authority’s test.

Classic film bodies may additionally count as collectors’ items, a category named separately. For your VAT that changes nothing.

What the Belgian tax authority says about cameras

Adjusting a shutter, cleaning a lens or replacing a light seal is repair work. That word sits in the definition of second-hand goods itself.

Buy from a private individual, from an estate or from a colleague working under the margin, and there is no deductible VAT, so the scheme applies.

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.

When cameras fall outside the scheme after all

Renovated goods are excluded, as are goods processed so heavily that at the point of sale you cannot establish they are the same goods. A body largely rebuilt from new parts comes close.

Bodies bought to be broken and sold as parts fall under goods out of use. New bodies from end-of-line stock are new goods, even if the model is discontinued.

The same piece, four countries

Whether cameras 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.

Where it goes wrong with cameras

• You add the service to your purchase price

  The margin is selling price minus purchase price. Parts and hours sit outside it.

• You sell parts from stripped bodies under the margin

  Goods out of use are on the exclusion list.

• You buy with VAT and sell under the margin

  If you deducted VAT at purchase, the body is not margin goods.

• You cannot show the purchase price per body

  For a batch at one price, Royal Decree no. 53 asks for a register.

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.

Frequently asked questions

• Do second-hand cameras fall under the VAT margin scheme?

  Yes. A used camera is tangible movable property that can be used again, which is the definition of second-hand goods at Belgium's FPS Finance. Classic film bodies may additionally count as collectors' items.

• Does it matter whether the camera is film or digital?

  Not for your VAT. Both are second-hand goods as long as they can be used again. A classic film body may additionally count as a collectors' item, with the same treatment.

• Can I sell a serviced body under the margin scheme?

  Repairing is fine: the word sits in the definition of second-hand goods. A body largely rebuilt from new parts lands on the renovated-goods exclusion.

• How much VAT is due on a camera bought for €210 and sold for €480?

  In Belgium, €46.86. The margin is €270, and €270 × 21/121 gives €46.86.

Other types of goods

The same question, a different kind of piece. The answer differs more often than you would expect.

Every type of goods at a glance

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