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Invoicing in Belgium: What Freelancers Need to Know

Stand: 29.03.2026

Belgium is one of the few EU countries with its own widely used payment reference system: the 'gestructureerde mededeling' (OGM/VCS). Belgian businesses expect this structured communication on invoices because their banking systems are built around it.

Mandatory Invoice Fields

The Belgian VAT Code (Code de la TVA / BTW-Wetboek) defines mandatory fields: name and address of both parties, BTW number of the supplier (format: BE + 10 digits, starting with 0 or 1), invoice date, sequential invoice number, description of services, net amount, BTW rate, BTW amount and gross amount.

Belgium is trilingual (Dutch, French, German). Invoices to Belgian clients are typically issued in French or Dutch depending on the client's region (Flanders: NL, Wallonia: FR, Brussels: FR/NL).

OGM/VCS (Structured Communication)

The Belgian 'gestructureerde mededeling' (OGM in Dutch, VCS in French) is a 12-digit payment reference in the format +++XXX/XXXX/XXXXX+++. The last 2 digits are a MOD97 check over the first 10 digits. Belgian banks display this format prominently and use it for automatic payment matching.

Calculation: The invoice number (digits only) is padded to 10 digits. These 10 digits are divided MOD 97. The remainder is the check digit (if 0, use 97). Example: 0000001234 MOD 97 = 34 → +++000/0001/23434+++. Mappli will perform this calculation automatically (planned).

BTW Rates and Reverse Charge

Belgium has three BTW rates: 21% standard, 12% reduced (social housing, certain restaurant food) and 6% super-reduced (basic food, water, books, medicines, renovations).

Reverse charge applies to cross-border B2B services under Art. 51 §2 of the Belgian VAT Code (national implementation of Art. 196 EU Directive 2006/112/EC). Belgian BTW numbers follow the format BE + 10 digits (starting with 0 or 1, 12 characters total).

What Mappli Does Automatically

When you create an invoice for a Belgian client in Mappli:

• SCOR reference is generated (OGM/VCS support planned)
• Reverse charge notice is added for EU B2B
• IBAN, BIC and bank details are correctly formatted
• Invoice language selectable (French, German, Italian or English)

Sources

• FOD Finanzen (SPF Finances) — FOD Finances (SPF Finances): Official Belgian tax administration information on BTW obligations and invoicing requirements. finances.belgium.be ↗
• OGM-VCS (Febelfin) — Febelfin AOS specification for OGM/VCS. Defines the 12-digit format with MOD97 check digit. Febelfin AOS (PDF) ↗
• BTWE (MwSt-Gesetz) — Belgian VAT Code (Code de la TVA). Art. 51 §2 governs the reverse charge mechanism. ejustice.just.fgov.be ↗
• Reverse Charge (EU) — Consolidated full text of the EU VAT Directive. EUR-Lex ↗

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