VAT business representation Belgium deductible

Representation and entertainment have their own limitations per country

For representation, entertainment and luxury expenses, the refund country itself determines whether and to what extent those costs are eligible for deduction — and Belgium has its own exclusions for this. This means that an invoice in this category does not automatically receive the same treatment as, for example, fuel or a hotel overnight stay: each EU country may apply the limitations it imposes on its own entrepreneurs to refund requests from foreign entrepreneurs as well. For Dutch entrepreneurs who exhibit at a trade fair in Belgium, receive clients or give business gifts, it is therefore important to know that this cost category is often limited or excluded from refund in practice, even though the VAT on the invoice has definitely been paid.

This does not mean that everything that smells of representation falls by the wayside. A business meal during a trip, the rental of a trade fair stand or transport to a client can fall under a different cost category that in Belgium is (partially) deductible. The classification into the ten EU cost categories also partly determines how an expense is assessed, and that classification is exacting: the same receipt can be classified differently depending on description and context. For those in doubt whether a specific expense falls under representation or under a broader category, the precise Belgian