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Frequently asked questions · Buying and selling across borders

Can you invoice a margin good abroad without VAT?

No. The exemption for supplies inside the EU does not cover a margin sale.

No. The exemption for intra-Community supplies does not apply to goods you sell under the margin scheme. Sell a margin good to a French or Dutch dealer and it stays a margin sale, with Belgian margin VAT still due — even though your buyer has a valid VAT number and the piece really does cross the border.

That is the trap: the customer shows a VAT number, and habit says you then invoice without VAT. For a margin sale that is wrong. Your buyer can deduct nothing either — there is no deductible VAT on your invoice — but he may resell the piece under his own margin scheme.

What your buyer can do with it

You

Sell under the margin schemeThere is no deductible VAT on your invoice.

Your buyer

Deducts nothing

After that

Resells the piece under his own margin scheme

If you would rather use the normal rules, you may: you can choose to sell a piece outside the margin scheme. All the usual conditions then apply — a valid VAT number, proof of transport, box 46 and the intra-Community listing.

Buyer with a VAT number, the piece crosses the border

How do you sell the piece?

outside the margin, if you choose

Normal rulesWith all the usual conditions: a valid VAT number, proof of transport, box 46 and the intra-Community listing.

under the margin

Belgian margin VAT is still dueIt stays a margin sale. Invoicing without VAT is wrong.

Read next

Selling a margin good to a foreign dealer Does a margin sale go in box 46? What must a margin invoice say? All frequently asked questions

Also worth knowing

Does a margin sale go in box 46 and in the listing?

No. A margin sale belongs neither in box 46 nor in the intra-Community listing. You declare it like any other margin sale, even when the piece goes to a dealer in another EU country. Box 46 and the listing belong to the exempt intra-Community supply — and that exemption is precisely what you are not applying here.

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What must a margin invoice say?

No separate VAT amount — that is the hallmark of a margin invoice — and the name of the scheme. In Belgium, Royal Decree no. 53, article 8, prescribes it word for word: “Bijzondere regeling - gebruikte goederen” (“Régime particulier - Biens d'occasion”), or the versions for works of art and for collectors' items and antiques. Your customer therefore sees a single total price. Adding “VAT not deductible” is allowed, but the law does not ask for it. Check which wording is compulsory in your country.

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