Intrastat Belgium: thresholds, OneGate filing and nil returns

What is Intrastat in Belgium?

Intrastat Belgium tracks goods, not invoices. It records goods entering Belgium from another EU Member State and goods leaving Belgium for another EU Member State.

The declaration does not cover services. It also does not cover imports from non-EU countries or exports outside the EU, which fall under customs procedures rather than Intrastat.

The practical rule is simple: Intrastat follows the physical movement of goods. VAT rules in Belgium follows the VAT treatment of the transaction. The EC Sales List follows certain intra-EU B2B transactions. The three filings often use related data, but they answer different questions.

Who must file Belgian Intrastat?

A business must file Intrastat in Belgium when it has VAT number in Belgium, intra-EU goods movements and exceeds the relevant annual threshold. The Belgian VAT number may look like BE0123456789.

A foreign company can therefore be in scope without being incorporated in Belgium. This is common when the company:

• stores goods in Belgium;

• sells from Belgian stock to EU customers;

• buys goods from another EU Member State and receives them in Belgium;

• transfers own stock into or out of Belgium;

• uses a Belgian VAT number for intra-Community acquisitions or supplies.

Intrastat Belgium thresholds

Belgian Intrastat thresholds are tested separately for arrivals and dispatches. You may have to file arrivals only, dispatches only, or both.

Once a threshold is exceeded, the declaration becomes monthly for the flow concerned. If you exceed the arrivals threshold but not the dispatches threshold, you file arrivals only. If both thresholds are exceeded, both flows must be reported.

The extended declaration threshold changes the level of detail required. Treat it as a data-quality issue, not as a minor formality: high-volume flows need controlled commodity codes, values, regions and partner-country logic before the file reaches OneGate.

Arrivals vs dispatches

Arrivals are goods entering Belgium from another EU Member State. In VAT terms, they often correspond to intra-Community acquisitions reported under a VAT in Belgium.

Example: a French company holds stock in Belgium. It buys goods from a German supplier and the goods are delivered directly to its Belgian warehouse. The Germany-to-Belgium movement may fall into Belgian Intrastat arrivals if the threshold is exceeded.

Dispatches are goods leaving Belgium for another EU Member State. In VAT terms, they often correspond to EC Sales List in Belgium.

Example: a non-established company sells goods from Belgian stock to a VAT-registered customer in the Netherlands. The Belgium-to-Netherlands movement may fall into Belgian Intrastat dispatches if the threshold is exceeded.

What data goes into Belgian Intrastat?

Each Intrastat line must describe one goods movement with enough detail for statistical reporting. The file is operational before it is fiscal: product, warehouse and transport data matter.

The core data includes:

• partner country code;

• nature of transaction;

• Belgian region;

• commodity code under the Combined Nomenclature;

• net mass in kilograms;

• supplementary units where required by the nomenclature;

• value in euros.

For dispatches, Belgium also requires additional data, including the country of origin and the VAT number of the counterparty.

Transaction codes in Belgium

The transaction code explains the economic nature of the movement. A physical shipment can be a sale, return, replacement, stock transfer, processing movement or repair movement. The code must match the substance of the flow.

Processing under contract deserves special attention. If goods leave Belgium for processing, or come back after processing, a standard sale code is often wrong. The transfer of ownership, or the absence of it, drives the code.

Which Belgian region should you report?

The Belgian region identifies where the goods arrive or from where they leave. The code is not a head-office field; it should reflect the operational Belgian location.

For arrivals, report the Belgian destination region of the goods. For dispatches, report the Belgian region of origin of the goods.

If your ERP does not distinguish Belgian warehouses by region, your Intrastat process is exposed. The issue usually appears late, when the reporting file is already built and the team has to infer the region manually.

When is Belgian Intrastat due?

Belgian Intrastat is filed monthly by the 20th day of the month following the reporting period. March movements, for example, are filed by 20 April.

This deadline is operationally tight because the reporting file depends on logistics close, invoice corrections, returns and product data. Build the Intrastat extraction before VAT close where possible, then reconcile values with the Belgian VAT return and EC Sales List before filing.

Late or inconsistent declarations can lead to reminders, correction work and penalties. The hidden cost is usually internal: blocked teams, reworked lines and unexplained differences between VAT and logistics datasets.

Nil returns in OneGate

A nil return is required when you are subject to Intrastat for a flow and have no movement to report for that month. No movement does not mean no filing obligation.

In OneGate, the nil position is handled through the option used to indicate that there is no data for the period before closing and sending the report.

How to file Belgian Intrastat through OneGate

OneGate is the official filing channel for Belgian Intrastat. It is the secure reporting portal of the National Bank of Belgium.

In practice, OneGate supports three filing methods:

Access may be organised through CSAM, an electronic certificate or specific credentials depending on the situation. Filing can also be delegated to a third party, such as a fiscal representative or VAT compliance provider, if the OneGate rights and mandates are correctly configured.

Filing checklist before submission

The safest Belgian Intrastat file is checked by flow, period and data field before upload. Use the checklist before closing the declaration in OneGate. See our guide on Contract manufacturing VAT EU.

1. Confirm the flow: arrivals, dispatches or both.

2. Check the thresholds: €1,500,000 for arrivals and €1,000,000 for dispatches.

3. Confirm whether the declaration is standard or extended.

4. Lock the monthly reporting period.

5. Validate partner countries.

6. Validate commodity codes.

7. Check net mass and supplementary units.

8. Check values in EUR.

9. Check transaction codes.

10. Check Belgian region codes.

11. For dispatches, check country of origin and counterparty VAT number.

12. Reconcile with the Belgian VAT return and EC Sales List.

13. Save the OneGate filing acknowledgement.

This checklist looks basic. It prevents most corrections: inverted flow, wrong transaction code, inconsistent value, wrong partner country, missing nil return or region guessed too late. See our guide on Quick Fixes.