Renovation work on private dwellings: no VAT certificate
March 2022 – A private individual who renovates an older house can, under certain conditions, benefit from a reduced VAT rate. The client must usually confirm to the contractor that the house is sufficiently old. The contractor then issues a certificate to the client for the application of the reduced rate. This certificate will no longer be necessary.
Renovation and repair work
For renovation and repair work on homes, the private owner is entitled to a VAT rate of 6%. The conditions for this reduced rate are as follows
the dwelling is more than ten years old ;
the dwelling is used exclusively or mainly as a private dwelling; and
the work carried out (conversion, renovation, improvement, repair or maintenance, except cleaning) is invoiced directly to the end user (owner, usufructuary, tenant, etc.).
If the dwelling is more than fifteen years old, the exemption is somewhat more extensive. For example, the 6% rate also applies to the supply of communal boilers in apartment buildings and to the supply of components of lift systems.
In addition to the conversion of older dwellings, the reduced rate can be applied to work on private dwellings or housing complexes for disabled persons.
Attestation
In each of these cases, a VAT certificate had to be issued. The client had to sign this certificate and thus confirm that he met the conditions for the reduced rate. This certificate was important for the contractor: in the event of an inspection, he had to be able to produce it to justify the application of the reduced rate.
But the certificate has now been abolished. A law of 27 December 2021 replaces it with a detailed declaration on the invoice itself. This change came into force on 1 January 2022. However, a transitional regime applies until 30 June 2022 to give entrepreneurs time to adapt their internal procedures.
Declaration
The exact statement to be included on the invoice is prescribed by law.
"VAT rate: in the absence of a written objection within one month of receipt of the invoice, the customer is deemed to acknowledge that :
the work was carried out on a dwelling whose first occupation took place in a calendar year at least ... years before the date of the first invoice for the work ;
the dwelling after the work has been carried out is used exclusively or mainly as a private dwelling;
the work is supplied and invoiced to an end user. If at least one of these conditions is not met, the customer must contest the application of the reduced VAT rate in writing within one month and the contractor must issue a corrected invoice or debit note”.
There is a similar reference to the reduced rate for the construction and renovation of dwellings and housing complexes for disabled persons.
Starting point of the period
Until 2021, the ten or fifteen year period was calculated on the basis of the year of first occupation. The period was therefore not calculated from date to date. The administration itself cites the example of work carried out from 12 February 2016 onwards on a private dwelling. In this case, the dwelling fulfils the ten-year requirement if it was first occupied in 2006 or earlier.
As of 1 January 2022, the date of the first invoice for the building site is taken as the starting point. As conversions are usually carried out using progress invoices, the impact of this change is not so great.
A statement on the invoice instead of a certificate is actually a simplification. In contrast to the certificate, the statement to be included on the invoice is now laid down by law. In addition, there is no longer any risk of the contractor losing or forgetting the certificate.
The change in the calculation period is less important in practice.
