Margin per piece or per period?

In Belgium the profit margin is looked at per return period: you add up all purchases and all sales in the period and only then take the difference. That is the globalisation method. In France the statutory default is per piece, but globalisation is allowed, with no prior election; in the UK the Margin Scheme is per piece and Global Accounting per period.

The difference bites as soon as one piece sells at a loss. Per period, that loss pushes down the profit on your other pieces and you pay less VAT. Per piece, a loss simply counts as zero and you pay in full on the winners.

One piece at a loss among them

Per period

The loss pushes down the profiton your other pieces, and you pay less VAT.

Per piece

The loss counts as zeroand you pay in full on the winners.

Per period: Belgium, the Netherlands by default, France if you wish, the UK with Global Accounting. Per piece: the French statutory default and the British Margin Scheme.

In France per piece is the default, but per period is allowed too (CGI 297 A II). A Belgian dealer filing a French return should therefore choose on purpose. If you sell in more than one country, check the method country by country — and keep your pieces in a way that lets you do both.

Can a loss reduce the profit on other pieces?

Belgium Yes, per period

globalisation: the margin is taken per return period, not per piece

Netherlands Yes, per period by default

per period by default for furniture, clothing, books, vehicles, art and antiques; a shortfall carries forward, and there is a year-end balance (UB OB art. 4c(1), (6)–(8))

France Per piece, or per period

per piece by default (CGI art. 297 A); globalisation per period allowed, with no prior election

UK Only if you opt in

Margin Scheme is per piece, Global Accounting is per period

Sources, each checked on 31 October 2026: Royal Decree no. 53 of 23 December 1994 (Belgium), article 4c of the Uitvoeringsbesluit omzetbelasting 1968 (Netherlands), article 297 A-II of the CGI and BOI-TVA-SECT-90-20 on bofip.impots.gouv.fr (France), and gov.uk (UK).

Also worth knowing

What if you sell a piece at a loss?

If you work per period, you count a loss in. In Belgium a loss on one piece lowers your margin over the year: in the last period you use the purchase prices of what you sold; in the periods before it you deduct all purchases of the period, sold or not (Royal Decree no. 53, art. 3). The Netherlands also works per period by default, for furniture, clothing, books, vehicles, art and antiques (UB OB art. 4c(1)). If you work per piece, as the French default rule does, a loss counts as zero and reduces nothing.

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What if your whole return period ends negative?

Then no margin VAT is due for that period, and you get nothing back: a negative margin does not create a credit. In the Netherlands the shortfall may be carried to the next period, where it lowers your margin. After the year comes a year-end balance. If that is negative, it goes into the next year on request, and what you overpaid that year comes back to you (UB OB art. 4c(6)–(8)). In Belgium the last period of the year recalculates the whole year, and a negative year is not carried into the next year.

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