Mandatory mentions on Belgian invoices: the 2026 checklist

The mentions (mandatory particulars) a Belgian VAT invoice must carry are listed in article 5 §1 of Royal Decree no. 1, the VAT invoicing decree; companies and associations add the company-law mentions of article 2:20 of the Companies and Associations Code. Peppol changes the channel, not this list. A due date, an IBAN, a structured communication and a purchase order number help you get paid, but none of them is a VAT mention.

This reference is for business owners, freelancers, accountants and billing teams. For each mention it gives the legal basis, the Peppol field that carries it and the OrdoGrid field that produces it. Choosing a VAT treatment is covered in VAT regimes on Belgian invoices, numbering in invoice numbering in Belgium, and the structured-data model in EN 16931 and UBL.

Which invoice you must issue

Simplified invoice

An invoice allowed by art. 13 of Royal Decree no. 1 that only needs the date and number, the supplier's name, seat address and VAT number, the customer's VAT number (or else its name and full address), the type of goods or services, and per rate the taxable amount and total VAT. A simplified credit note must also refer specifically to the original invoice and state the mentions it changes.

The full invoice, mention by mention

Points refer to article 5 §1 of Royal Decree no. 1; Peppol terms are the EN 16931 business terms of Peppol BIS Billing 3.0. OrdoGrid's invoicing screens are in French in every interface language. The preview's N°, Date and Échéance labels and the choices under Options de TVA follow Langue des documents; this article quotes them for French documents.

The customer's VAT number is a general mention. Point 3° requires it on every full invoice to a VAT-identified customer, including an ordinary 21% domestic invoice. Only invoices to customers without a VAT number, such as private individuals, leave it out. Enterprise numbers issued since 19 September 2023 start with 1 (BE1…). OrdoGrid does not send on Peppol without it: the send window shows Peppol — ignoré with Pas de numéro de TVA client (no client VAT number).

Prices and currency. A full invoice showing only VAT-inclusive unit prices does not meet point 8°, and a discount not built into the unit price must appear. You may invoice in any currency, but the total VAT must also be stated in euros (9°). OrdoGrid's editor has no currency selector and works in EUR by default.

Deadline. Issue the invoice by the 15th of the month after the chargeable event (art. 4): in general the supply of the goods or the completion of the service; for an advance payment, the month you collected it; for periodic statements, the end of the period.

The structured file carries the mentions. For in-scope B2B transactions the structured e-invoice is the only legally required invoice; a PDF copy is optional, and a customer cannot reject an invoice for lack of a PDF (B2B FAQ, Q11 and Q12). FPS Finance (the Belgian federal tax administration) asks for extended VAT clauses as a document note (BT-22) and in the exemption reason (BT-120) (specific FAQ, Q11), and Peppol allows one document note only (rule PEPPOL-EN16931-R002). OrdoGrid fills both: the exemption reason carries the mention OrdoGrid prints on the PDF, in the document language, and the single document note combines that mention, the VAT restitution mention on a credit note that refunds Belgian VAT to a customer with a VAT number, and your Notes (a paragraph repeated word for word appears once). The text of Mentions légales (pied de page des factures) travels as BT-33 (see below). The VAT mention, what you add in Notes and your company-law mentions therefore reach your customer in the structured fields, not only on the PDF embedded in the Peppol file. On French and Dutch documents, the VAT mention is the official wording, including the full article 20 §3 text for construction reverse charge.

Company-law mentions for companies and associations

Article 2:20 of the Companies and Associations Code applies to the invoices, letters, orders and websites of every legal person, ASBL and VZW included; sole traders are natural persons and fall outside it. A person who acts for the company in a document lacking these mentions may be held personally liable for all or part of the commitments made (art. 2:22).

Profil entreprise has a field Mentions légales (pied de page des factures) (legal mentions, invoice footer). Its text prints in the footer of every invoice and credit note PDF and travels in the Peppol file as the seller's additional legal information (BT-33), the field FPS Finance prefers for these data (specific FAQ, Q14). Type the company-law line there once and check it with Aperçu du PDF (PDF preview).

Prescribed wordings: copy them exactly

Where the decree fixes a wording, use it word for word. The official texts exist in French and Dutch; Justel has no consolidated German text of Royal Decree no. 1, and we found no official German wording.

Since 1 January 2023, invoices for construction work and the installations listed in article 20, issued by a contractor established in Belgium to a customer filing periodic VAT returns, have had to carry this full text (article 20 §3; see construction reverse charge). Copy the version in your invoice language (French first, then Dutch):

Autoliquidation : En l'absence de contestation par écrit, dans un délai d'un mois à compter de la réception de la facture, le client est présumé reconnaître qu'il est un assujetti tenu au dépôt de déclarations périodiques. Si cette condition n'est pas remplie, le client endossera, par rapport à cette condition, la responsabilité quant au paiement de la taxe, des intérêts et des amendes dus.

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.

Exempt intra-EU supplies of goods and exports need a reference to the exemption provision or another indication of the exemption (10°); no sentence is fixed. The 6% rate for heat pumps in dwellings (2026 to 2030) needs a long mention set out in the Royal Decree of 18 December 2025.

What OrdoGrid prints, and what to add

The printed text follows Profil entreprise → Langue des documents (document language); the table shows French documents. English and German documents print a translation, because no official text exists in those languages: use French or Dutch documents if you want the official wording (in the Dutch-language area, Dutch is required anyway).

Useful, but not VAT mentions

Set up OrdoGrid so every invoice carries its mentions

1. Open the profile menu and choose Company profile (page Profil entreprise; only owners and administrators can edit it). Enter Nom de l'entreprise with the legal form, the registered seat in Adresse, Code postal, Ville, Pays, and Numéro de TVA (Optionnel), which must start with BE for Peppol. Choose Langue des documents, and type the company-law line in Mentions légales (pied de page des factures).
2. In Base Clients, open the customer or click Ajouter un client (add a client). Choose Type de client: Assujetti à la TVA (VAT-registered) or Particulier (private individual). For a business, type N° de TVA and check the name and address the lookup fills in (badge Registre belge (BCE), the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, or VIES (UE), the EU VAT number check).
3. Click Nouvelle facture (new invoice) and check N°, Date and Échéance. If the goods were delivered or the service completed on another date, enter that date in Delivery / service date (for a service billed per period, the date the period ends).
4. Fill each line: Description, with the period for a service billed per period; Quantité, Unité, Prix Unitaire, TVA; discounts with Réduction d'article.
5. Under Options de TVA, choose the regime. Any regime other than Standard sets every line to 0%.
6. In Notes, add what OrdoGrid does not print, such as references to earlier invoices.
7. Click Aperçu du PDF and compare the result with this checklist.
8. Click Envoyer (send), keep Envoi électronique via Peppol ticked for a Belgian business customer, and click Sauvegarder & Envoyer (save and send).

After sending, do not edit the wording: your customer keeps the version you sent. Correct with a credit note started from the invoice with Note de crédit; its Facture d'origine (original invoice) block holds the invoice number and date, the PDF prints both, and the Peppol file carries the number. See correct or credit an invoice.

When the PDF is the legal invoice

A PDF or paper invoice is the legal invoice for private and foreign customers, and for a Belgian customer that technically cannot receive structured invoices (art. 53 §2bis of the VAT Code, last paragraph). The PDF must then carry every mention itself:

• With Prix unitaires TVAC (TVA incluse) (VAT-inclusive unit prices) ticked, the PDF shows unit prices including VAT only. Untick it before issuing a full invoice; the amounts do not change.
• With several VAT rates, the PDF prints one VAT total and no taxable amount per rate: issue one invoice per rate, or have your accountant confirm the layout.
• The company-law mentions appear only if you filled in Mentions légales (pied de page des factures), and the official VAT wording only on French and Dutch documents.

Worked example: Atelier Nord SRL invoices Imprimerie Dubois SA

Atelier Nord SRL, a design studio at Rue Saint-Gilles 52, 4000 Liège (enterprise number 0784.512.343), laid out the autumn catalogue of Imprimerie Dubois SA, Chaussée de Louvain 18, 5000 Namur (BE1012.345.646, a recent number starting with 1). The work ended on 30 September 2026, so the invoice must be issued by 15 October. Atelier Nord issues F-2026-0142 on 9 October 2026 and sends it on Peppol.

In the Peppol file, BT-10 carries BC-2026-311, BT-72 the date 2026-09-30, BT-33 the company-law line, the VAT breakdown shows category S at 21% with €2,358.00 and €495.18, and line 1 carries a €102.00 allowance.

Variant: construction reverse charge

Menuiserie Lejeune SRL (BE0812.334.418) fits kitchen cabinets in a new flat for Immo Meuse SRL (BE0791.356.880), which files periodic VAT returns. Invoice F-2026-0087 of 12 October 2026 shows one line of €7,800.00 and charges no VAT: with Régime cocontractant, OrdoGrid sets the line to 0% and the Peppol file carries category AE. OrdoGrid prints the full article 20 §3 text in the document language (French here) and sends it in the Peppol file, and the total payable is €7,800.00. Immo Meuse declares the VAT itself: €1,638.00 if the 21% rate applies.

Variant: small business exemption invoice from Leuven

Julie Peeters, an illustrator in Leuven under the small business VAT exemption (BE0665.543.229), invoices three illustrations at €150.00 to Vervloet Communicatie BV (BE1034.567.851): €450.00, no VAT. Her place of business is in the Dutch-language area, so the legally required parts must be in Dutch (Flemish decree of 19 July 1973): she sets Langue des documents to Dutch, chooses the franchise under Options de TVA (with Dutch documents the option reads ‘Kleine ondernemingsregeling’), and OrdoGrid then prints ‘Bijzondere vrijstellingsregeling van belasting’. The invoice goes out on Peppol. More in Small business VAT exemption (franchise).

Mistakes and edge cases

If a mention is missing, the supplier risks a VAT fine for absent or inaccurate mentions (art. 70 §2 of the VAT Code). Under the substance-over-form policy the customer keeps its deduction if the material conditions are met and it can prove the transaction otherwise before the audit ends (FPS Finance fine policy, no. 71).

Evidence to keep

• The file as sent: in Peppol → Outbox, select the invoices and download the ZIP with its xml and pdf folders.
• The PDF as issued: Original document in the Settlement panel stays unchanged.
• Customer status: the customer's VAT number and, for construction work, any statement that it does not file periodic returns, in which case article 20 does not apply.
• Agreements: any written agreement on a format or channel other than Peppol BIS.
• Retention: 7 years from 1 January after the year of issue (art. 60 of the VAT Code, as amended by the Law of 18 December 2025), longer for documents linked to VAT revision on immovable property. OrdoGrid is not a legal archive.

FAQ

What are the mandatory mentions on a Belgian invoice?

Date and sequential number; your name, seat address and VAT number; the customer's name, address and VAT number; the nature, quantity and, if different, date of the supply; per rate the taxable amount and unit price excluding VAT; the VAT rates and total VAT; and any prescribed regime wording. Companies and associations add legal form, enterprise number and RPM or RPR with their court.

Is the customer's VAT number required on every B2B invoice?

Yes, on every full invoice to a VAT-identified customer, whatever the VAT treatment (art. 5 §1 3° of Royal Decree no. 1). Only invoices to customers without a VAT number, such as private individuals, leave it out, and OrdoGrid needs it to send on Peppol.

Are the due date, IBAN and structured communication legal mentions?

No. They are not in article 5 of Royal Decree no. 1. They help your customer pay and you match the payment, but leaving them out does not make the invoice incomplete for VAT.

Does a Peppol invoice need the same mentions as a PDF invoice?

Yes. Peppol changes the channel, not the content. From 1 January 2026, the structured file is the legal invoice for in-scope B2B transactions; the PDF is an optional copy, and we recommend checking that it matches the structured file.

What happens if a mention is missing?

The supplier risks a VAT fine. The customer normally keeps its deduction if the material conditions are met and it can prove the transaction otherwise. Correct the invoice with a credit note and, where needed, a new invoice.

Must a credit note repeat every mention of the invoice?

No. It may be a simplified invoice with a specific reference to the original invoice and the mentions it changes. If the original was a structured invoice, the credit note must be structured too.

In which language must a Belgian invoice be written?

If your place of business is in the Dutch-language area, the legally required parts must be in Dutch; in Brussels you may choose French or Dutch. We found no language rule in VAT law itself, but we found the fixed wordings only in French and Dutch (Justel has no consolidated German text of Royal Decree no. 1). Elsewhere, check with your accountant.