E-invoicing for liberal professions: architects, consultants and coaches
Are you an architect, consultant, coach, lawyer, psychologist or another liberal professional? Then the e-invoicing obligation applies to you too — even if you may feel that this regulation is aimed more at "real businesses". Here is what you need to know.
Does the obligation apply to liberal professions?
Yes. The law makes no distinction between sectors or professions. Every VAT-registered business in Belgium that invoices other VAT-registered businesses must do so via Peppol.
This applies to:
- Architects who invoice construction developers or other businesses
- IT consultants and business consultants who invoice companies
- Coaches and trainers who carry out corporate assignments
- Lawyers and notaries for their business clients
- Graphic designers, copywriters and other creatives who work for businesses
What if you have both private and business clients?
Many liberal professionals work for a mix of private individuals and businesses. The obligation applies only to business invoices — to clients with a VAT number.
Invoices to private individuals may still be sent as a PDF. Good invoicing software automatically detects whether a client has a VAT number and sends the invoice via the correct channel.
What if you are VAT-exempt?
Some liberal professionals are fully exempt from VAT under Article 44 of the Belgian VAT Code. This includes certain medical professions, some educational activities, and psychologists and psychotherapists.
If your activities are fully VAT-exempt, you are not subject to the e-invoicing obligation for sending invoices. However, you must still be able to receive e-invoices from VAT-registered suppliers.
If you are unsure whether your specific situation qualifies as an exception, discuss this with your accountant.
What if you fall under the small enterprise VAT exemption?
Liberal professionals with an annual turnover below €25,000 can opt for the small enterprise VAT exemption scheme. In that case you do not charge VAT.
But even then, you are subject to the e-invoicing obligation if you do business with other VAT-registered companies. Your invoices do not contain VAT, but they must still be sent in the correct electronic format via Peppol.
In practice: what changes for you?
In practice, not much changes about how you work. You still create invoices for your clients, but instead of saving a PDF and forwarding it by e-mail, you click "send via Peppol" and you are done.
The advantage: your invoice arrives automatically in your client's accounting software, without them having to enter it manually. This speeds up processing — and therefore payment as well.
Cleero is designed for precisely this kind of use: simple, fast, and without technical expertise. Try it free.