Vintro Pro
NL · FR · EN
Vintro Pro
NL · FR · EN
Four countries, four periods. This is the figure you need most often and that sits nowhere side by side.
In Belgium ten years for your VAT records — extended from seven to ten by the law of 20 November 2022. In the Netherlands seven years, in France five years after the register is closed, and in the United Kingdom six years, and longer for as long as the piece is unsold.
The period does not start at the same moment everywhere either. In the Netherlands it only runs from the point where the data lose their current value; in France from the closing of the register.
For a second-hand business the sting is in the British clause: as long as a piece sits on your shelf, the duty to keep records runs on. A cabinet standing there for eight years carries its purchase record for eight years — and only then does the period begin.
VAT records; extended from seven to ten years in 2022
from the moment the data lose their current value
counted from the closing of the register
and longer for as long as the piece is unsold
The row disappears once the piece is soldThat is exactly when the duty starts. Without the purchase price you can no longer prove your margin.
The photo lives somewhere elseA purchase note in a folder and a photo on your phone are not a file together. In an inspection you have to assemble two things.
You use your own country's periodActive in two countries, keep the strictest version from the start. Adding data to a piece you already sold is not possible.
Sources, each checked on 30 August 2026: article 60 of the Belgian VAT Code (extended from seven to ten years by the law of 20 November 2022), the Belastingdienst (Netherlands), service-public.gouv.fr (France) and gov.uk, VAT margin schemes — Keeping records (UK).
This is an explanation, not tax or legal advice. Put your own situation to your accountant.
No. The temptation to delete a row as soon as something sells is strong, but that is precisely the moment you need it: the purchase price and date are your evidence for the margin, and the retention period only starts running then. In France that is five years after closing, in Belgium ten years.
A purchase register listing every item you want to sell under the margin scheme, a sales register for what goes out, and a comparison register tying purchase and sale together. Together they make the profit margin ascertainable — which is exactly the amount you pay VAT on. No registers, no margin scheme.
Vintro Pro keeps, per piece, what you paid, when, and where it came from. Your stock list and your margin VAT build themselves while you work.
Free up to 10 pieces, no card number and no end date.