Frequently asked questions · Records, invoices and retention

What has to be recorded per piece in your stock list?

Put the four countries side by side and a hard core remains.

Its own number, the purchase date, the purchase price, who sold it to you, a description of the piece, and later the sale date and selling price. That is the core that returns in all four countries. On top of it each country asks its own: the UK wants purchase and sale on the same row, France wants the method of payment.

Per piece: the core, and what comes on top

In all four countries

The core
  • own number
  • purchase date
  • purchase price
  • who sold it to you
  • description
  • sale date
  • selling price

UK

Purchase and sale on the same rowMargin and VAT due included.

France

The method of paymentOn top of the core.

Dashed: filled in later, at the sale. Active in two countries? Keep the strictest version from the start.

Anyone active in two of the four countries is better off keeping the strictest version from the start. Adding data to pieces you have already sold is no longer possible — and with unique pieces there is no second example to derive it from.

The striking thing about the British list is its shape: HMRC wants purchase and sale on the same line, margin and VAT due included. That is exactly what the Belgian comparison register does by hand.

What each country adds on top of the core

Belgium Three registers

purchases, sales, and a comparison register linking the two

Netherlands VAT records + opkopersregister

For VAT: records that link purchase and sale per piece, plus a purchase declaration from €500 per purchase (UB OB art. 31(5) and 4a). Separately, outside VAT: the opkopersregister (art. 437 Sr).

France Livre de police

nature, characteristics, origin, method of payment, seller's name and address, and the type, number, date and issuer of their identity document

UK All in one row

stock number, purchase and sale, the margin and the VAT — one sixth

Sources, each checked on 30 August 2026: Royal Decree no. 53 of 23 December 1994 and the FPS Finance's administrative rules (Belgium), articles 31(5) and 4a UB OB and article 437 Sr (checked on 31 October 2026) and the Dutch government's Digitaal Opkopersregister, the registre d'objets mobiliers on service-public.gouv.fr (France) and gov.uk, VAT margin schemes — Keeping records (UK). Note: VAT Notice 718 is still widely quoted online, but HMRC has withdrawn it.

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Also worth knowing

Do you need an article number per piece?

Yes, and it does not have to mean anything. For series an article number needs meaning, because it stands for a kind. For unique pieces it stands for exactly that one piece, so a running series does the job. What does matter: the same number appears on the label, in your list and with your photo.

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Do you have to register as a dealer in used goods?

In the Netherlands anyone trading professionally in used goods must keep an opkopersregister, certified by the mayor; many municipalities designate the digital DOR for it. Whether you must also enrol as a dealer is up to your municipality's bylaws (APV). In France you must register in advance with the prefecture (déclaration préalable, art. R321-1 Code pénal) and also keep the registre d'objets mobiliers, colloquially the livre de police. Neither is about VAT: both target handling stolen goods. In Belgium it runs through the VAT registers of the margin scheme.

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Every piece with its purchase price, photo and origin in one place

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