Check VAT on an invoice in Belgium: numbers, details and calculations

How do you check VAT on an invoice in Belgium?

Checking a Belgian invoice involves three complementary checks: identifying the parties, checking that the document meets the requirements and verifying the amounts.

An invoice with correct calculations can still contain an incorrect VAT number. Conversely, a properly identified supplier may have applied the wrong rate.

The three steps to checking an invoice

1. Check the business and its VAT number. Verify the name, address and status of the supplier or customer. For a Belgian business, consult the CBE. For transactions within the EU, also use VIES.
2. Review the information on the invoice. In particular, check the invoice number, issue date, the identity of the parties, the description of the goods or services and any exemption or reverse charge wording.
3. Recalculate the amounts. Compare the quantities, prices excluding VAT, VAT rates, discounts and totals including VAT with those shown on the document.

These three steps help you identify many common discrepancies. However, they do not replace a full tax assessment when a transaction falls under a special scheme.

Which free tools can you use to check an invoice?

These tools serve different purposes. Combining them is usually more useful than relying on a single validation result.

Check a Belgian VAT number using the CBE

The first step is to make sure that the number shown on the invoice actually belongs to the business concerned.

How do you recognise a Belgian VAT number?

In Belgium, enterprise numbers are assigned by the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises. They contain 10 digits (official explanation in French), with either 0 or 1 as the first digit.

When an enterprise number is activated for VAT identification purposes, it is prefixed with the country code BE.

Bear in mind that having an enterprise number does not automatically mean that it has been activated for VAT. Some businesses and organisations may be registered with the CBE without having ordinary VAT identification.

An initial format check can reveal a typing error. However, a correctly structured number proves neither that it has been activated for tax purposes nor that it belongs to the supplier named on the invoice.

How do you find a business in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises?

CBE Public Search is a free public service provided by FPS Economy.

You can search using an enterprise number, a company name or an address. The results allow you to check, among other things:

• The registered business name or the name of the self-employed person.
• The address of the registered office and any establishment units.
• The company’s legal form.
• The status of the business and certain administrative dates.
• Its registered economic activities and the capacities listed in the register.

Next, compare these details with those on the invoice.

A different trading name does not necessarily indicate fraud: a business may trade under a name that differs from its legal name. However, you should be able to establish the connection between the two.

If the status is inactive, the number belongs to another company or the information appears inconsistent, ask for an explanation before approving the document.

Check an intra-Community VAT number using VIES

When an invoice involves businesses established in different European Union countries, checking the intra-Community VAT number is particularly important.

What is the VIES system?

VIES, short for VAT Information Exchange System, is the European Commission’s system for exchanging VAT information.

This official tool lets you check whether a VAT number is recognised for intra-Community transactions.

Contrary to a common misconception, VIES is not a central database containing all European businesses. It is a search engine that queries tax information made available by the national administrations of EU Member States.

The service is free to use and does not require a subscription.

How do you use the official VIES tool?

You can carry out the check directly on the European Commission’s VIES portal.

The steps are straightforward:

1. Select the country that issued the VAT number.
2. Enter the number you wish to check in the requested format.
3. Start the validation search.
4. Read the result returned by the system.
5. Save or print the confirmation to keep a dated record of the check.

Depending on the information available for the country concerned, VIES may also provide, or allow you to confirm, details of the business name and address.

What does a valid or invalid VIES result mean?

An “invalid” result does not automatically mean that the business is fictitious. For example, its number may not have been activated for intra-Community transactions, or registration may still be in progress.

Conversely, a valid result confirms neither that a supply actually took place nor an automatic right to invoice without VAT.

Check a European VAT number using MyMinfin

When VIES does not provide enough information, Belgium’s FPS Finance offers an additional procedure through MyMinfin (instructions in French).

After signing in, open the “My interactions” section, then the requests for certificates allowing you to check the validity of a European VAT number.

This service can be particularly useful when you need to confirm the name and address associated with a number or carry out several checks in a single request.

MyMinfin also accepts a CSV file for checking multiple numbers. The file can contain the VAT number and, optionally, the business name or address to be verified.

For a business owner, an administrative department or an accountancy practice, this feature makes it easier to manage large numbers of customer or supplier records.

What information must a Belgian VAT invoice contain?

Checking whether an invoice is valid involves more than checking its VAT number.

A business invoice must contain the information needed to identify the transaction and determine its tax treatment.

The main details to check

For an ordinary invoice subject to VAT invoicing requirements, the checks include the following:

The requirements may differ for simplified invoices, certain tax schemes or particular transactions.

In Belgium, national requirements must be read alongside the European rules, particularly Article 226 of Directive 2006/112/EC.

Electronic invoicing: what must you check since 2026?

Since 1 January 2026, structured electronic invoicing has been mandatory for most B2B transactions between Belgian businesses subject to VAT.

A PDF invoice sent by email therefore does not, on its own, replace the structured invoice required for transactions within the scope of this obligation.

The Peppol network and Peppol BIS format are the default framework. Another solution is possible by mutual agreement between the parties, provided it complies with the European standard EN 16931.

However, there are exceptions to this requirement, and it does not apply in the same way to sales to private individuals or international transactions.

To check the conditions and exceptions, see our guide to electronic invoicing in Belgium.

How do you check the VAT calculation on an invoice?

Once you have checked the business and the required invoice details, you still need to verify the amounts.

An error can occur on an individual line without immediately changing the total you expect, particularly when several rates, charges or discounts are involved.

Check prices excluding VAT, quantities and rates

For a standard invoice, start by calculating the amount excluding VAT for each line:

Line amount excluding VAT = Unit price excluding VAT × Quantity

Then calculate the VAT amount using the following formula:

VAT amount = Taxable amount × VAT rate ÷ 100

Finally:

Amount including VAT = Taxable amount + VAT

In Belgium, the main VAT rates are 21%, 12% and 6%. A 0% rate also applies to certain specific transactions.

The standard rate is 21%, but the legally applicable rate depends on the nature of the goods or services supplied and the conditions that apply. Before recalculating an invoice, make sure that the rate shown is justified.

For more detail, see our guide to VAT rates in Belgium.

Example: checking an invoice with two VAT rates

Consider an invoice containing two groups of transactions for which the applicable rates have already been established:

• A taxable amount of €200 excluding VAT at 21%.
• A taxable amount of €50 excluding VAT at 6%.

The check produces the following results:

For these transactions, with no other adjustments, the invoice should therefore show a total of €250 excluding VAT, €45 in VAT and €295 including VAT.

This calculation shows that the amounts agree arithmetically. It does not, on its own, establish that the rates of 21% and 6% are legally applicable.

Use our calculator to compare an invoice

The calculator on this page lets you reproduce the individual lines of an invoice and calculate their amounts.

For each line, enter the description, unit price excluding VAT, quantity and VAT rate.

The table calculates the amounts excluding VAT, VAT amounts and amounts including VAT, followed by the totals for all lines.

Quantities must be whole numbers. For a service billed in a fractional quantity, enter the full amount excluding VAT with a quantity of 1.

The separate comparison tool then lets you enter the totals shown on your invoice. It displays the difference between the stated amount and the recalculated amount.

You can compare one amount or several. A blank field is not treated as zero. The difference is the stated amount minus the calculated amount: if €300 is stated and €295 is recalculated, it shows +€5.

The table accepts up to 100 lines and whole-number quantities from 1 to 10,000. It rounds VAT per line. Negative prices are not accepted in this table: for a credit note at a known rate, use the single-amount calculator.

You can export the results as a CSV file to help with your own checks. This export is neither a legal invoice nor a certificate confirming the tax treatment.

The table performs its calculations in your browser, without sending the simulation lines to the server.

Why is the VAT amount a few cents different?

A difference of one cent does not necessarily mean that the invoice is incorrect.

The difference may arise from the rounding method:

• Rounding per line: VAT is calculated and rounded on each line before the amounts are added together.
• Rounding per VAT rate: taxable amounts subject to the same rate are grouped together before the tax is calculated and rounded.

Depending on the amounts, the two methods can produce slightly different results.

Before deciding that there is an error, compare the calculation method and rounding convention used on the document.

To understand these differences, see our guide to VAT rounding.

Discounts, delivery charges and other amounts

An invoice may also contain transport costs, commissions, trade discounts or price reductions.

How these items are treated determines the taxable amount to use.

In principle, certain ancillary charges relating to a supply of goods or services are included in the taxable amount, while qualifying price reductions may reduce it.

Where several VAT rates apply, shared charges must be allocated to the relevant transactions using a justified method.

The calculator on this page assumes that the amounts excluding VAT have already been correctly established. It does not automatically determine the tax treatment of charges and discounts.

You can find the rules in our guide to the VAT taxable amount.

Intra-Community VAT: how do you check an invoice from another EU country?

The validity of a customer’s VAT number becomes particularly important when a Belgian business invoices a business established in another EU Member State.

However, you need to distinguish between supplies of goods, supplies of services and sales to private individuals.

EU B2B invoices: when does an exemption apply?

An intra-Community supply of goods may be exempt from VAT in the Member State of departure when the conditions laid down by law are met.

In particular, you must examine the customer’s VAT identification, the actual movement of the goods to another Member State, the supporting evidence available and the reporting requirements.

For a Belgian business, these situations are governed, in particular, by Article 39bis of the Belgian VAT Code (in French) and Article 138 of European Directive 2006/112/EC.

The VIES result is an important part of the checks, but it does not, on its own, provide sufficient evidence for the exemption.

Invoices subject to the VAT reverse charge

In certain international B2B transactions, the customer is liable for VAT in their own country. This is known as the reverse charge mechanism.

For many intra-Community supplies of services covered by the general B2B place-of-supply rule, the supplier invoices without charging VAT from their country and includes the appropriate wording, in particular “Reverse charge”.

However, this mechanism does not automatically apply to every transaction between two European businesses.

You must check the nature of the service, the place of taxation, the customer’s status and any exceptions.

Sales to private individuals and special cases

A private individual does not automatically qualify for the treatment reserved for intra-Community B2B transactions.

Distance sales of goods, e-commerce and dropshipping may be subject to specific rules, including those relating to the One Stop Shop (OSS).

Likewise, an invoice without VAT does not necessarily relate to an intra-Community transaction. It may involve an exemption, the small-business exemption scheme or another special arrangement.

It is therefore important to distinguish between the absence of VAT charged on an invoice, the applicable VAT rate and the supplier’s tax status.

Why check a customer’s or supplier’s VAT number?

Checking VAT numbers helps reduce administrative errors, the risk of fraud and the need to correct invoices.

It is useful both for a self-employed person issuing their first invoice and for a company that regularly handles transactions within the EU.

Warning signs to look out for

Several discrepancies warrant further checks:

• A missing or incorrect VAT number, or one that belongs to another business.
• A company listed as inactive in the CBE.
• Contact details or a business name that do not clearly match the official information.
• An invoice referring to an intra-Community transaction without justification for the tax treatment.
• Reverse charge wording without a coherent explanation of why it applies.
• An unexpected change of bank details accompanied by a request for urgent payment.
• An invoice bearing the same number as an earlier document, without an explanation.

None of these points automatically proves fraud. They are warning signs that call for a check.

If in doubt, contact the business through a channel independent of the contact details supplied in the suspicious message.

Keep evidence of your VAT checks

For significant business relationships, it is advisable to keep a record of the checks you carry out.

Your records may include the date of the check, the number checked, the VIES result or MyMinfin confirmation, and the identity details you compared.

Keeping this evidence is particularly useful when explaining the steps you took in connection with an intra-Community transaction.

It does not replace the other evidence required, such as transport documents or accounting records.

In Belgium, the general invoice retention period for VAT purposes (official guidance in French) is seven years, starting on 1 January of the year following the year of issue. Longer periods may apply in certain situations, particularly for immovable capital goods.

What should you do if an invoice contains an error?

The solution depends on the nature of the discrepancy.

A mistake in an address or VAT number does not necessarily call for the same action as an error in an amount, rate or tax scheme.

Start by asking the supplier to confirm the correct information. Where a tax correction is needed, a corrective document or a credit note may have to be issued, depending on the circumstances.

Do not alter the amounts on an invoice you have received simply to make the calculations agree.

If the error concerns a special VAT scheme, an intra-Community supply or a right to deduct input VAT, seek confirmation from your accountant or the tax authority before correcting the transaction.

See also our guide to VAT credit notes (in French).