Vintro Pro
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Vintro Pro
NL · FR · EN
Old in the box is not the same as second-hand. That difference costs dealers money regularly, and it is spelled out on the exclusion list.
Never-used end-of-line stock is new goods, and falls outside the scheme.
New goods are named on Belgium's exclusion list. End-of-line stock or a showroom model that has never been used is sold with ordinary VAT.
This is the confusion that comes back in almost every trade: a box that stood in a warehouse for ten years feels like second-hand. For VAT it is not.
The exclusion list opens with new goods. Not with old goods, not with expensive goods: with new. And new here means never used.
The definition of second-hand goods turns on reuse: tangible movable property that can be used again. That word again is the hinge. What was never used a first time cannot be used again.
A showroom model sits right against that and is exactly where it gets interesting. Where the line runs and why is set out in Is an unused item second-hand goods?
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 showroom models: bought for €800.00, sold for €1,900.00. 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?
One thing does not count: age. A 2014 collection that never sold is still new. Nor does the price you paid — end-of-line stock is cheap because nobody wanted it, not because it was used.
The calculator below is there to show what the scheme would give if it applied. Do not read it as confirmation: on end-of-line stock you pay VAT on the full selling price.
Whether end-of-line stock 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.
Never worn or never used is new, however old the box.
End-of-line stock is cheap because nobody wanted it. That does not make it second-hand.
Separate bookkeeping, or at least separate columns, is required for margin sales.
On an ordinary purchase with VAT on the invoice you deduct it. That is the upside against ordinary VAT on your sale.
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.
No. New goods are named on Belgium's FPS Finance exclusion list, together with precious metals, renovated goods and goods out of use. End-of-line stock that has never been used is new goods.
Age changes nothing. The definition of second-hand goods requires that the goods can be used again, which presupposes a first use. A box that sat in a warehouse for ten years has never been used.
That is the edge case that really matters, and it depends on whether the piece was used. The full reasoning is in the knowledge base article on unused second-hand goods.
With ordinary VAT on the full selling price. In return you can deduct the VAT on your purchase invoice, which is exactly what a margin sale does not allow.
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.