Summary
- A pre-draft law was approved. At the Ministerraad of 18 July 2026, on a proposal by Finance Minister Jan Jambon, the federal cabinet approved a voorontwerp van wet / avant-projet de loi amending the VAT Code to introduce a mandatory electronic reporting (e-reporting) obligation and to abolish the annual customer listing (jaarlijkse klantenlisting / liste annuelle des clients). [news.belgium.be], [news.belgium.be]
- It is dual-sided, near real-time reporting. Building directly on the general B2B structured e-invoicing obligation in force since 1 January 2026, the draft requires certain mandatory invoice data to be reported to the administration in “near real time” by both the supplier/service provider and the customer — a “dubbelzijdige / bilatéral” reporting system aimed at boosting compliance and accelerating fraud detection through richer, more reliable data. [news.belgium.be], [news.belgium.be]
- Next stop: DPA and Council of State. The abolition of the annual client listing applies specifically to taxpayers subject to the new e-reporting obligation. The pre-draft has now been sent for advice to the Data Protection Authority (Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit / Autorité de protection des données) and the Council of State (Raad van State / Conseil d’État) before proceeding through the legislative process. [news.belgium.be], [news.belgium.be]
Extended Article
What was agreed on 18 July 2026
At a Council of Ministers held via electronic procedure on Saturday 18 July 2026 under Prime Minister Bart De Wever, the government took a decisive step on VAT digitalisation. On a proposal by Finance Minister Jan Jambon, the cabinet approved a pre-draft law amending the VAT Code to introduce the electronic reporting obligation and to remove the annual client-listing requirement. [news.belgium.be], [news.belgium.be]
This is the concrete legislative act that gives shape to the “e-reporting from 2028” commitment previously set out only at policy level in the 2025–2029 federal coalition agreement. Until this weekend, e-reporting existed as a stated intention; the 18 July decision converts it into a formal draft text. [news.belgium.be]
The three pillars of the draft text
1. Near real-time reporting on top of e-invoicing. Since 1 January 2026, Belgian taxpayers must exchange structured electronic invoices for domestic B2B transactions. The new draft extends this by requiring that certain mandatory invoice data be reported to the tax administration in a form of“near real time” electronic reporting. [news.belgium.be], [news.belgium.be]
2. A dual-sided (“dubbelzijdige”) obligation. The reporting must be done both by the supplier/service provider and by their customer (medecontractant / cocontractant). According to the official communication, this bilateral design is intended to:
- significantly improve taxpayer compliance, notably through the digitisation and computerisation of the data flow, producing more reliable data; and
- give the administration faster, more detailed and more reliable information, making existing control techniques more effective through risk analysis, enabling quicker action against specific fraud phenomena and rendering audit work more efficient. [news.belgium.be], [news.belgium.be]
3. Abolition of the annual client listing. Introducing the e-reporting obligation means the annual list of taxable customers provided for in the VAT Code can be abolished for those taxpayers who are subject to the new e-reporting duty — a genuine simplification offsetting the new obligation. [news.belgium.be], [news.belgium.be]
What happens next
The pre-draft law has been submitted for advice to the Data Protection Authority and to the Council of State. Only after those advisory steps will the text move forward through the legislative pipeline. [news.belgium.be], [news.belgium.be]
Why it matters for business
The reform confirms Belgium’s move to a continuous transaction control model that keeps it aligned with — and slightly ahead of — the EU’s ViDA Digital Reporting Requirements due by July 2030. Practically, in-scope businesses should treat this as the trigger to confirm their Peppol setup is future-proof, audit invoice-data quality (near real-time reporting leaves little room for later correction), and monitor the DPA and Council of State opinions for the final dataset and scope details. [blogitaa.be]
External links (official & authoritative)
- News.belgium – “Invoering van de verplichting tot elektronische rapportering factuurgegevens” (NL, 18 Jul 2026): official cabinet communication
- News.belgium – “Instauration de l’obligation de rapportage électronique des données de facturation” (FR, 18 Jul 2026): communication du Conseil des ministres
- News.belgium – “Ministerraad van 18 juli 2026” (agenda/overview): full list of decisions
- ITAA blog – “E-reporting vanaf 2028: 6 punten” (timeline & practical prep): professional guidance
