Short answer
Reverse charge means your business customer, not you, accounts for the VAT, so your invoice shows no VAT amount. In the Netherlands you state "btw verlegd" and the customer’s VAT ID. In Belgium, work on buildings for a customer who files periodic VAT returns needs the fixed medecontractant statement. Most B2B services to other EU countries are reverse charged too.
Subcontracting in construction or cleaning, or selling services to companies elsewhere in the EU? Then you will meet the reverse charge. This guide explains the Dutch rules (btw verlegd) and the Belgian rules (medecontractant) separately, with sample invoices and the VAT return boxes involved.
What is reverse charge VAT?
Under the reverse charge, the duty to pay VAT shifts from the supplier to the business customer. You invoice without VAT; your customer calculates the VAT and reports it in their own VAT return. If they use the purchase for taxable activities, they deduct the same amount in that return, so on balance they pay nothing.
Both countries apply it only in specific situations and only to business customers; private customers are never reverse charged. As the supplier, you remain responsible for applying it correctly.
Business.gov.nl: VAT in the Netherlands, including reverse charging
When does reverse charge apply in the Netherlands?
The Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) applies the reverse charge (verleggingsregeling) only in the situations listed below. In construction, your role decides: a subcontractor working for a contractor reverse charges the VAT to that contractor, but if you work directly for the client, such as a homeowner or a shop renovating its premises, you charge VAT. Design work, security, rental and work done mostly in your own workshop are excluded.
- Subcontracting and hiring out staff for physical work on buildings or ships, such as construction, demolition, maintenance, repair and cleaning, mainly in construction, shipbuilding, cleaning and landscaping.
- Services to businesses in other EU countries, usually taxed in the customer’s country.
- Mobile phones, chips, game consoles, laptops and tablets sold to businesses in the Netherlands, from €10,000 (excluding VAT) per type of goods per delivery.
- Waste and scrap, real estate sales where buyer and seller opt for VAT, and niche cases such as forced sales, gold and emission allowances.
What must a Dutch invoice with btw verlegd show?
On top of the usual invoice details, write "btw verlegd" and your customer’s VAT identification number, including the country code. Show the net amount per VAT rate as it would apply without the reverse charge, but no VAT amount. For services to other EU countries, show both VAT numbers; the statement may also be in English, German or French.
Report the turnover in box 1e (rubriek 1e) of your Dutch VAT return for Dutch customers, or in box 3b and your EU sales listing (ICP) for customers in other EU countries.
Example: a freelance plasterer invoicing a contractor
Invoice 2026-0042, September 18, 2026 To: Bouwbedrijf Jansen BV, VAT ID NL123456789B01 Plastering, new-build project 32 hours × €55.00 = €1,760.00 Materials: €240.00 Net amount at 21%: €2,000.00 Btw verlegd Amount due: €2,000.00 The plasterer reports €2,000.00 in box 1e. The contractor reports €2,000.00 and €420.00 VAT in box 2a, and deducts €420.00 in box 5b.
When does the Belgian medecontractant rule apply?
Belgium’s domestic reverse charge for building work is the medecontractant rule in Article 20 of Royal Decree no. 1. It applies, and is mandatory, when a supplier established in Belgium performs work on immovable property (werk in onroerende staat) for a customer who must file periodic Belgian VAT returns.
That work covers building, renovating, finishing, fitting out, repairing, maintaining, cleaning and demolishing a building or other real estate, fixing items to it so they become part of it, and some assimilated operations.
Since January 1, 2023, the rule covers every customer that must file periodic returns, including foreign businesses registered directly for Belgian VAT. It does not apply to private customers or to businesses without periodic returns, such as small businesses under the VAT exemption scheme (vrijstellingsregeling) and farmers under the flat-rate scheme. They have a Belgian VAT number but must tell you they do not qualify, and you charge them VAT.
Belgian Official Gazette: Royal Decree of October 26, 2022 (in Dutch)
What must a Belgian medecontractant invoice show?
For work under the rule, the invoice shows no VAT rate and no VAT amount, but it does show your customer’s VAT number and, since January 1, 2023, the fixed statement below. Writing only "btw verlegd" is not enough.
The statement protects you. If the customer does not dispute the invoice in writing within one month of receipt, they are deemed to confirm that they file periodic returns. If that is wrong, the customer is liable for the VAT, interest and fines, and you are released from that liability unless there was collusion.
You report the amount in grid 45 (rooster 45) of your periodic VAT return. Your customer enters the base in grid 87 and the VAT in grid 56, and deducts it in grid 59 if entitled: on a €2,350.00 office tiling job, that is €493.50 (21%). Since January 1, 2026, such invoices between Belgian VAT-registered businesses are in principle structured e-invoices sent via Peppol, with the statement as a note.
The mandatory statement (Dutch wording, Article 20 §3)
Verlegging van heffing. Bij gebrek aan schriftelijke betwisting binnen een termijn van één maand na de ontvangst van de factuur, wordt de afnemer geacht te erkennen dat hij een belastingplichtige is gehouden tot de indiening van periodieke aangiften. Als die voorwaarde niet vervuld is, is de afnemer ten aanzien van die voorwaarde aansprakelijk voor de betaling van de verschuldigde belasting, interesten en geldboeten.
efactuur.belgium.be: VAT statements on Peppol invoices (in Dutch)
FPS Finance (Intervat): VAT return grids for purchases (in Dutch)
Services to businesses in other EU countries
As a general rule, a service to a business in another EU country is taxed in the customer’s country, and the customer pays the VAT there. You invoice without VAT, show your customer’s VAT number and state that the VAT is reverse charged. Some services are exceptions.
In the Netherlands, write "btw verlegd", show both VAT numbers and report the service in box 3b and your ICP listing. In Belgium, report it in grid 44 and your intra-EU listing; the long medecontractant statement belongs to domestic work on immovable property.
Goods are different: a supply of goods to a business in another EU country is an intra-Community supply at 0%, with its own invoice statement. When you buy services from an EU supplier, you account for the VAT yourself: boxes 4b and 5b in the Netherlands, grids 88, 55 and 59 in Belgium.
Invoicing customers in other countries
Belastingdienst: extra invoice requirements for EU services (in Dutch)
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
A fixed setting per customer prevents most slips. In Factuur Simpel you switch on reverse charge for one invoice or as a default for a customer. The invoice then shows no VAT and prints "BTW verlegd", or the full Belgian medecontractant statement when you or your customer are based in Belgium. Invoice labels are in Dutch. Also watch for:
- Charging VAT when the reverse charge applies. In the Netherlands you still owe that VAT, your customer cannot deduct it, and you need to send a corrected invoice.
- Reverse charging a private customer, or a Belgian customer that files no periodic VAT returns.
- Leaving out your customer’s VAT number or not checking it.
- Using "btw verlegd" for goods sold to a business in another EU country instead of the 0% statement.
- Writing only "btw verlegd" on a Belgian medecontractant invoice.
Frequently asked questions
Is reverse charge the same as 0% VAT?
No. With the reverse charge, VAT is due but your customer accounts for it instead of you. A 0% rate, such as for an intra-Community supply of goods, means no VAT is due on your supply in your own country. The invoice statement differs as well.
Does the reverse charge apply when I work for a homeowner?
No, the reverse charge only applies to business customers. If you renovate a bathroom directly for a homeowner in the Netherlands or Belgium, you charge VAT. If you do the same work as a subcontractor for a contractor, the contractor accounts for the VAT, in Belgium provided the contractor files periodic VAT returns.
What if my Belgian customer does not file periodic VAT returns?
Then the medecontractant rule does not apply and you charge VAT. Such customers, for example small businesses under the exemption scheme, must tell you when they give you their VAT number. If a customer stays silent and does not dispute your invoice with the full statement within a month, the customer is liable for the VAT, interest and fines, unless there was collusion.
Do I need my customer’s VAT number on a reverse charge invoice?
Yes. A Dutch reverse charge invoice must show the customer’s VAT identification number, and for EU services both VAT numbers. A Belgian medecontractant invoice shows the customer’s VAT number too. Check it before you invoice: in the Netherlands, if it is unclear who your customer is, the tax authority can assess the VAT from you.
Set up reverse charge once per customer
In Factuur Simpel you switch on reverse charge per invoice or as a default for a customer. The invoice then leaves out the VAT and prints "BTW verlegd", or the full Belgian medecontractant statement for Belgian businesses and customers.
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