Vintro Pro
NL · FR · EN
Vintro Pro
NL · FR · EN
Almost every vintage lamp passes the bench before it is sold. That need not stand in the way of the margin scheme.
Second-hand lighting falls under the margin scheme.
Second-hand lighting falls under the margin scheme. Rewiring stays a repair; a fitting assembled from parts is something else.
A used lamp is tangible movable property that can be used again. That clears the tax authority’s test.
Almost every vintage fitting is rewired before sale. That raises the question of whether that is repair or renovation — and that is exactly the dividing line on the exclusion list.
A new flex, a new lampholder or a new switch is repair work. The definition of second-hand goods itself speaks of goods usable again as they are or after repair.
Antique chandeliers may additionally count as antiques, a category named separately. The treatment stays the same.
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 vintage pendant lamp: bought for €70.00, sold for €240.00. 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?
A fitting assembled from loose parts — a shade from here, a base from there — is not the goods you bought. That touches the exclusion of goods processed so heavily that at the point of sale you cannot establish they are the same piece.
Electrical safety is a real obligation, but it sits entirely apart from VAT. A lamp that is not safe may not be sold; that says nothing about the margin scheme.
Whether lighting 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.
The margin is selling price minus purchase price. Flex, holder and hours sit outside it.
What comes into being from loose parts is not the goods you bought.
Two separate obligations. One says nothing about the other.
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.
Yes. A used lamp is tangible movable property that can be used again, which is the definition of second-hand goods at Belgium's FPS Finance. Antique chandeliers may additionally count as antiques.
Yes. The definition of second-hand goods itself speaks of goods usable again as they are or after repair. A new flex or lampholder is repair work.
That falls outside. The tax authority excludes goods processed so heavily that at the point of sale you cannot establish they are the same goods as at purchase.
In Belgium, €29.50. The margin is €170, and €170 × 21/121 gives €29.50.
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.