Article 44

What does Article 44 mean? 

Apart from a few statutory exceptions, all self-employed people pay VAT on their transactions, i.e. on services and supplies charged. However, articles 44 and 44 bis of the Belgian VAT Code provide a number of exemptions. Taxable persons who carry out transactions listed in Art. 44 do not have to charge VAT and therefore issue sales invoices without VAT. On the other hand, they are not entitled to deduct VAT on their purchases (incoming invoices).

Art. 44

Article 44 of the VAT Code lists four groups of exempt transactions:

• Transactions exempt due to the capacity of the person carrying them out. Think of doctors, dentists, physiotherapists, …
• Transactions exempt because they are of a social or cultural nature. Examples are hospitals and other care institutions, transport of patients in specially equipped vehicles, retirement homes, museums, libraries, …
• Various other exempt transactions such as lotteries, games of chance and gambling, insurance and financial institutions.
• Transactions exempt because they fall within the real estate sector, such as letting.

You can find the complete overview of exempt activities under article 44 and any conditions on Fisconet.

Partially VAT-liable

Some self-employed people carry out activities that are exempt from VAT under art. 44 and combine them with activities that are subject to VAT. That is perfectly possible: in such a case, the self-employed person or business is ‘partially VAT-liable’, i.e. liable for VAT for only part of their activities.

As a result, any recoverable VAT on purchases is also only partially deductible. That part is calculated according to the ratio of turnover subject to VAT to total turnover.

Art. 44 in onFact

If you fall under one of the exemption categories mentioned, you can indicate this in the default settings in onFact. For example, if you choose the option ‘Exempt from VAT under article 44’ as VAT regime, no reference to VAT will appear on your sales invoices.