A painting bought in a gallery carried 21% VAT until the end of 2025. Since 1 January 2026, that same painting bears 6%. Belgium has levelled the rate on works of art downwards — a decision that reshapes the economics of buying, importing and reselling, and that deserves to be read beyond the single figure.
Since 1 January 2026, a single VAT rate of 6% applies to the supply, import and intra-community acquisition of original works of art in Belgium (Act of 19 December 2025, Circular 2026/C/14). The earlier split — 6% when buying directly from the artist, 21% in a gallery or at auction — disappears. The technical trade-off: the profit-margin scheme can no longer be applied to the resale of an item bought at a reduced rate.
What the reform actually says
The starting point is a European directive: Council Directive (EU) 2022/542 of 5 April 2022 authorised Member States to apply a uniform reduced rate to works of art, collectors' items and antiques. Belgium seized on it late but decisively, through the Act of 19 December 2025, in force on 1 January 2026. The administration spelled out the practical rules in Circular 2026/C/14 of 13 January 2026.
The principle is easy to state: 6% VAT on all supplies of original works of art, but also on their import from a non-EU country and on their intra-community acquisition. A single rate, whatever the channel.
Before and after: what really moved
Before 2026, the 6% rate already existed, but within a narrow perimeter. It applied only to a purchase made directly from the artist (or their successors in title) and to the import of a work bought directly from the artist outside the Union. As soon as the work passed through an intermediary — a gallery, an auction house, a dealer — the standard rate of 21% took over.
| Purchase channel | Before 2026 | Since 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Directly from the artist | 6% | 6% |
| In a gallery | 21% | 6% |
| At auction | 21% | 6% |
| Import (outside EU) | 6% (if bought directly from artist) | 6% |
| Intra-community acquisition | 21% | 6% |
For a buyer, the gap is not cosmetic. On a work priced at €50,000 excluding tax and bought in a gallery, VAT drops from €10,500 to €3,000: €7,500 saved on a single acquisition. It is this mechanism that led several commentators to describe Belgium as one of the most competitive jurisdictions in Europe for the art trade.
The trade-off: the margin scheme closes
Every tax reform has its technical downside. Here it concerns professionals. The profit-margin scheme lets a taxable dealer calculate VAT only on their margin — the difference between the sale price and the purchase price — rather than on the full sale price. It is a central mechanism in the second-hand art trade.
The Act of 19 December 2025 adds a new condition: the margin scheme can no longer be applied where a reduced VAT rate was applied upstream, whether at the purchase, import or intra-community acquisition of the item. In other words, a dealer who benefited from the 6% rate on purchase must, on resale, apply the normal regime and tax the full sale price.
The rule also applies to stock already held at 31 December 2025: the VAT treatment is determined at the moment the tax becomes chargeable on resale, not at the moment of purchase. A dealer must therefore weigh, item by item, the 6% on the way in against the loss of the margin scheme on the way out. The administration provided a transitional tolerance for the deduction of VAT on goods acquired or imported since 2022; its conditions should be checked case by case.
What it changes for a collector or a company
For the end buyer who does not intend to resell — a private collector, a company acquiring a work for its walls — the reform is straightforwardly good news. The entry cost falls by fifteen VAT points on purchases in galleries and at auction, with no trade-off, since the margin-scheme question does not arise at this level.
For a VAT-taxable company, the logic sits on top of the right to deduct: the VAT paid on purchase may, depending on the activity and the use of the asset, be recovered in whole or in part. A lower entry rate reduces the initial cash requirement and simplifies the choice between a private acquisition and an acquisition through the structure — a choice we document in our guide on buying art through a company.
VAT is only one layer of the taxation of art. It bears on the acquisition; it says nothing about corporate-tax treatment, deductibility, capital gains on disposal or transmission. An acquisition decision is judged on the whole tax chain, not on the entry VAT rate alone.
A signal, more than a niche
Beyond the arithmetic, the reform sends a message. By lowering the tax cost of entering the art market, Belgium reinforces the appeal of an asset class whose nature — a tangible movable good, distinct from financial instruments — places it outside the scope of the new tax on capital gains on financial assets. For a business owner building a wealth architecture in the post-Arizona reform context, the work of art gains in relative coherence.
Still, the technical nuance of the margin scheme is a reminder of a constant in taxation: a measure that looks favourable always produces second-order effects. Reading it correctly means distinguishing what holds for the end buyer from what holds for the professional who resells.
If you are considering an acquisition — privately or through your company — the confidential meeting exists precisely to place VAT within your overall tax situation, before any decision.