Dealers: stock and sales

The profit margin scheme (VAT) for a used-watch dealer in Belgium

In Belgium, a dealer who resells a used watch may apply the special profit margin scheme. This guide sets out what royal decree no. 53 and the FPS Finance page say, and says what it could not read.

The principle

The scheme is for the taxable business that buys, or assigns to its business, second-hand goods to resell them, in its own name or as a commission agent. It is optional: for each transaction, the dealer may apply the normal scheme (FPS Finance).

A second-hand good is a tangible movable good fit for re-use, as it is or after repair, other than a work of art, a collector's item or an antique, and other than a precious metal, a precious stone or a pearl (royal decree no. 53 of 23 December 1994, article 1). It does not name watches. On a reading of that text, a used watch falls within this definition.

According to the FPS Finance, the good must have been supplied within the European Union by a supplier who could exercise no right to exemption or refund of VAT: a private individual, a non-taxable legal person, a taxable person with no right to deduct in the cases the page lists, or another dealer whose sale was itself under the margin scheme.

How the margin is calculated

The margin is the difference between the selling price asked by the dealer and the purchase price, reduced by the VAT contained in that margin. The selling price includes the incidental costs charged to the buyer: commission, packaging, insurance, transport (royal decree no. 53, article 2).

For each filing period, the taxable amount is the total margin: the total selling prices of goods sold under this scheme, minus the total purchase prices of the period. The dealer draws up an annual stock inventory of the goods under this scheme (article 3).

For the last filing period of the year, the margin is settled over the whole year: the selling prices of the year, minus the purchase prices of the goods sold in the year, plus the margins already declared. A negative margin for the last period is not carried to the following year (article 3).

The invoice and the purchase documents

The dealer does not show VAT separately on the invoice, and the buyer, even a taxable one, cannot deduct VAT on that good (FPS Finance).
The invoice carries the mention « Régime particulier - Biens d'occasion » (royal decree no. 53, article 8, in force since 1 January 2013).
The FPS Finance page read on 10 November 2026 still cites another wording: « Livraison soumise au régime particulier d'imposition de la marge bénéficiaire. TVA non déductible ». Both texts were read; the royal decree is the legal text, and the FPS wording is probably old.
On purchase, the dealer hands its supplier a purchase slip, unless the supplier must itself issue an invoice (FPS Finance).

What falls outside the scheme

According to the FPS Finance: new goods, precious metals, precious stones and pearls, renovated goods, and goods transformed so far that the object bought can no longer be identified in the object sold. The line between a repaired watch, which stays in the scheme, and a renovated watch, which leaves it, is not defined in the texts read. A gold watch is not cited: to be checked.

The accounts

A dealer who applies both the normal scheme and the margin scheme keeps its transactions separate in its accounts (royal decree no. 53, article 7). For sales without an invoice, a separate entry in the sales journal, with the nature of the goods sold, is required (article 9).

What could not be read

The text of article 58, § 4, of the VAT Code, from which the scheme comes, could not be read: the conditions in this guide come from royal decree no. 53 and the FPS Finance page. The 1995 circular and the VAT Manual were not read. The treatment of consignment was not found. An accountant or the VAT inspectorate settles these points.

What Provena Studio does

For each watch, Studio records its purchase price and its selling price, and calculates the actual margin. It does not issue invoices and does not calculate VAT: the margin scheme is applied in your invoicing and accounting tools, with your accountant.

The texts

Official texts read on 10 November 2026.

Provena Studio

Provena Studio is the working tool of watch workshops and watch dealers: repairs from reception to handover, stock, purchases and consignment.

Request a demo. The request goes out by e-mail: we answer ourselves to arrange a meeting.

Written from field feedback and the official texts; it is not legal advice. It is a translation of the French guide. Published on 10 November 2026. Lire en français