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22.12.2021

Administrative simplification for contractors: VAT certificate 6% now on invoice

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From 2022 there will be a new regulation for the VAT certificate for 6% on renovations. This intervention will greatly reduce the administrative burden for the contractor and places the responsibility for correct application on the client. Renovation and repair works can, under certain conditions, be carried out at the reduced VAT rate of 6% instead of at the standard rate of 21%. Until this year, the contractor was required to issue a VAT certificate to the client proving that all the conditions had been met in practice. To simplify this administration, the aforementioned attestation will be replaced by a comprehensive statement on the invoice itself.

Update 12/01/2022: this new measure has since been officially adopted in the Belgian Official Journal published and thus final.

 

Renovation and repair works on houses older than 10 years can benefit from the reduced VAT rate of 6%. To benefit from this reduced VAT rate, a number of conditions must be met. For example, the home must be more than 10 years old and the home must be used primarily as a private residence. In order to demonstrate that these conditions have been met in practice, the end customer/client had to sign a certificate stating that all the conditions for the reduced VAT rate have been met. But for the contractors this entailed a great deal of administrative work: certificates were not sent out or were lost. In order to simplify this administration, the aforementioned attestation is replaced by an extensive statement on the invoice itself.

That statement should read as follows: "VAT rate: In the absence of written dispute within a period of one month from receipt of the invoice, the customer shall be deemed to acknowledge that (1) the works are performed on a dwelling whose first occupation took place in a calendar year that is at least 10 years prior to the date of the first invoice relating to those works, (2) the dwelling, after the performance of those works, is used exclusively or primarily as a private dwelling and (3) the works are provided and invoiced to a final consumer. If at least one of those conditions is not met, the standard VAT rate of 21% will apply and the buyer will be liable with respect to those conditions for the payment of the tax, interest and fines due."

The one-month period should therefore give the principal the opportunity to dispute the invoice drawn up and inform him that the conditions for application of the reduced VAT rate are not met. If the client disputes the invoice, the contractor must prepare a corrected invoice at 21% VAT. The new regulation therefore places the responsibility for the correct application of the reduced VAT rate entirely on the client. This principal will therefore also be responsible for the additional payment of VAT (especially 15%) and for any fines and interest if it turns out that the conditions for application have not been met.

This new regulation may already be applied by the contractor from January 1, 2022, it becomes mandatory only from July 1, 2022. Until the end of June 2022, one can thus still work with the known attestation.

 

Do you have questions about this new measure? Then contact us here!