Short answer
A Dutch or Belgian business usually charges no VAT to a foreign business customer. Services to an EU business are reverse charged, with the customer’s VAT number and a reverse-charge note on the invoice. Goods shipped to an EU business or exported outside the EU are zero-rated or exempt. Consumers in the EU usually pay your home-country VAT.
This guide is for freelancers and small-business owners in the Netherlands or Belgium who bill customers abroad. It compares both countries’ rules and explains the invoice notes, the VIES check, the Dutch ICP return and the Belgian VAT return grids.
Which VAT applies when you invoice a foreign customer?
Three questions decide it: is your customer a business with a VAT number or a consumer, are they inside or outside the EU, and are you supplying services or goods? The Dutch Tax Administration treats a customer without a VAT number as a consumer, even when it is an organization.
| Situation | Netherlands | Belgium |
|---|---|---|
| Services to an EU business | No VAT; "btw verlegd" and both VAT numbers; box 3b and ICP return | No VAT; "Btw verlegd" and the customer’s VAT number; grid 44 |
| Goods shipped to an EU business | 0%; both VAT numbers and an intra-Community supply reference; box 3b and ICP return | Exempt; customer’s VAT number and exemption reference; grid 46 |
| Consumers in another EU country | Usually Dutch VAT; €10,000 EU threshold for digital services and distance sales | Often Belgian VAT; same €10,000 EU threshold |
| Goods exported outside the EU | 0%; keep proof of export; box 3a | Exempt; exemption reference; grid 47 |
| Services to a business outside the EU | No Dutch VAT; not in your Dutch VAT return | No Belgian VAT; grid 47 |
In the Netherlands: reverse charge, 0% and the ICP return
For most services to a business in another EU country, you invoice without VAT and write "btw verlegd" (VAT reverse charged); the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) also accepts this note in English, German or French. Both your VAT identification number and your customer’s must be on the invoice, which you send by the 15th of the month after the month of supply.
Report these services in box 3b (rubriek 3b) of your VAT return and in the ICP return (opgaaf intracommunautaire prestaties) for the period in which you performed them. Goods shipped to an EU business are invoiced at 0%, with both VAT numbers and a reference showing it is an intra-Community supply.
Services connected with real estate, admission to events, passenger transport, restaurant and catering services and short-term hire of a means of transport follow their own rules. Exports outside the EU are zero-rated (box 3a). Services to a business outside the EU are usually taxed in the customer’s country and stay out of your Dutch VAT return.
Example: a Dutch freelancer billing a German company
Web development in September 2026 for a GmbH in Berlin: 20 hours × €85 = €1,700.00 VAT: reverse charged ("btw verlegd") Total due: €1,700.00 Send the invoice by October 15, 2026, with both VAT IDs and "btw verlegd" or "reverse charge". Report €1,700 in box 3b and in the ICP return for the third quarter.
Business.gov.nl: VAT on services abroad
Belastingdienst: VAT on services to customers in other EU countries (in Dutch)
In Belgium: reverse charge, exemptions and VAT return grids
Services to a VAT-registered business in another EU country fall under the general rule in Article 21, § 2 of the Belgian VAT Code: they are taxed where the customer is established. Royal Decree No. 1 (KB nr. 1) requires the note "Btw verlegd" instead of the VAT rate and amount, plus your customer’s VAT number. The amount goes in grid 44 (rooster 44) of the VAT return.
Goods shipped to a customer registered for VAT in another EU country are an exempt intra-Community supply (Article 39bis). The invoice shows the customer’s VAT number and the exempting provision, or another statement that the supply is exempt, and the amount goes in grid 46. Exports and services to businesses outside the EU go in grid 47. Intra-EU supplies and services also go in the intra-Community listing (intracommunautaire opgave).
Issue invoices by the 15th day of the month after the chargeable event. Belgium’s Peppol e-invoicing mandate does not cover invoices to foreign customers: a PDF is fine if the customer agrees, and paper is allowed too.
Example: a Belgian designer billing a Dutch company
Design work completed in October 2026 for a bv in Rotterdam: 12 hours × €90 = €1,080.00 VAT: "Btw verlegd" (no rate or VAT amount) Total due: €1,080.00 Issue the invoice by November 15, 2026, with your BE0… VAT number, the customer’s Dutch VAT number and "Btw verlegd". Report €1,080 in grid 44.
Royal Decree No. 1: invoice details and deadlines (Justel, in Dutch)
Invoicing consumers in other EU countries
Most services to consumers in another EU country are taxed where your business is established, so a Dutch business charges Dutch VAT and a Belgian business generally charges Belgian VAT.
Digital services (telecommunications, broadcasting and electronically supplied services) and distance sales of goods follow an EU-wide threshold of €10,000. Below it, your home-country VAT may continue to apply; above it, you charge the VAT of your customer’s country. The Belastingdienst applies the threshold per calendar year, excluding VAT, across all EU countries together.
You can report that foreign VAT quarterly through the One Stop Shop (OSS) in your own country instead of registering in each country. If you opt in, the scheme covers all such sales in every EU country.
European Commission: One Stop Shop (OSS) and the €10,000 threshold
Check your customer’s VAT number in VIES
Check your customer’s VAT number before you invoice without VAT. The Belastingdienst warns that if the customer turns out not to be a business, you can face an additional assessment and a fine. In Belgium, the customer’s VAT number is a required invoice detail for intra-EU services and goods.
- Open VIES, the European Commission’s free validation service, and select the customer’s EU country.
- Enter the VAT number (the check is case sensitive), optionally with your own, and run the check.
- Compare the name and address with your records; VIES does not show them for German numbers.
- Save the result with your records.
Currency, language and foreign invoices in Factuur Simpel
If you invoice in another currency, Dutch rules still require any VAT amount in euros, and Belgian rules require the total VAT amount in euros. The Dutch reverse-charge note may be in English, German or French.
Factuur Simpel has a reverse-charge switch on each invoice, with a default per customer: it removes the VAT and prints a reverse-charge note, and your customer’s VAT number appears on the invoice. Add a 0% rate in the settings for zero-rated or exempt supplies, and put extra notes, such as "reverse charge" or an exemption reference, in the footer.
Invoices are in euros with Dutch labels. VIES checks and OSS returns happen outside the app.
Frequently asked questions
Do I charge VAT when I invoice a US client?
For services to a US business, usually not: the service is generally taxed in the customer’s country, so no Dutch or Belgian VAT applies. Goods exported to the US are zero-rated in the Netherlands and exempt in Belgium; keep proof of the export. Consumers and some services follow other rules.
What if my EU customer has no VAT number?
Then you generally treat them as a consumer for VAT purposes. For most services, that means charging your home-country VAT. For digital services and distance sales of goods, you charge the VAT of the customer’s country once you exceed the EU-wide €10,000 threshold. Do not apply the reverse charge without a VAT number you have verified.
Do I have to send a Belgian customer an e-invoice via Peppol?
Not if you invoice from the Netherlands without a fixed establishment in Belgium: the Belgian mandate applies to businesses established in Belgium. Belgian businesses invoicing foreign customers are outside the mandate too. A structured e-invoice is allowed if your customer agrees, and a registration on the Peppol network counts as agreement.
What is the Dutch ICP return?
The ICP return (opgaaf intracommunautaire prestaties) lists your intra-EU supplies of goods and reverse-charged services per customer VAT number. Its total must match box 3b of your VAT return for the same period. If you supplied nothing to EU businesses in a period, you do not file one. Belgium has a similar intra-Community listing.
Invoice customers abroad with the right VAT note
Switch an invoice to reverse charge in Factuur Simpel, keep your customer’s VAT number on file and add standard notes in the footer. Try it free for 30 days.
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