Belgium is actively debating a major VAT rate change that would combine two reduced Value-Added Tax (VAT) rates (6% and 12%) into a single, intermediate 9% rate. While this move aims to simplify the tax system, it could lead to higher prices for everyday essentials and household services.<\/p>\n
Currently, Belgium uses a few different reduced VAT rates in addition to its standard 21% rate:<\/p>\n
– The 6% rate: Used for basic needs like food, medicine, books, and cultural events.<\/p>\n
– The 12% rate: Used for restaurant food, energy, and social housing.<\/p>\n
This plan is still discussed as part of the country’s federal budget, and no final laws have been passed yet. The government must weigh the benefits of a simpler system against the risk of making life more expensive for everyday families. For example, there are ongoing talks about expanding 0% tax rates for basic items like fresh fruits, vegetables, and medicines to help offset these costs.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Belgium is actively debating a major VAT rate change that would combine two reduced Value-Added Tax (VAT) rates (6% and 12%) into a single, intermediate 9% rate. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":239137924,"featured_media":14164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1387],"tags":[1417],"class_list":["post-14162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eu-vat-update","tag-belgium-vat-update"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/belone_1140x360.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfNysa-3Gq","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/239137924"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14162"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14165,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14162\/revisions\/14165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}