B2B VAT in Europe

Prices on this site are ex VAT.

Belgian Customers.

We are a Belgian company, customers in Belgium will be invoiced with 21% VAT. You can reclaim VAT from the Belgian VAT administration as usual for business-to-business transactions within Belgium.  

Customers in another European Union member state.

For B2B transactions between European member states, "reverse VAT" applies. This means that we can invoice with 0% VAT, and you will not have to reclaim VAT.

We must validate your VAT number in the EU VAT Information Exchange System (VIES). When ordering on-line, this will happen automatically. You will get an error message if your number can not be validated, possible causes are:

  • Format or typing errors, please scroll down for a list with the correct VAT number format for each country.

  • Your VAT number is new and not yet registered in the VIES, please check with your local VAT administration or with your accountant

  • EU VAT registration in your member state requires extra procedures. In most EU countries, if you get a national VAT registration, the number will be automatically registered in the VIES, but in some countries you will need to register. Contact you local VAT authorities or your accountant for more information.         

Apart from the mandatory VIES validation, we have to provide proof that final delivery was in another EU country, we use the shipping documents from our shipping provider for this, strictly one shipment per order. Picking up your order in our Belgian office is not possible, as this will be considered  a delivery in Belgium.

We mainly sell to VAT registered customers, but we can handle orders for consumers or professionals without VAT registration as well. When you check out without VAT number, you will be charged the standard VAT rate for your country as per the new EU VAT regulations since 1 July 2021.  

Customers outside the European Union

If your country is not a member of the European Union, VAT will be charged during customs clearance in your country. Typically, our shipping provider will advance VAT, and either ask to pay the VAT amount Cash on Delivery, send you a link to pay the VAT amount on-line before delivery or send you an invoice after delivery.

You will in most cases be able to reclaim VAT in the same way as for local purchases in your country, please check with your accountant or your local tax authorities.

Apart from VAT, you may also be charged import taxes, but for almost all of our products, you will not pay import tax in most European countries.

Some countries (Norway, Switzerland, ...) have trade agreements with the European Union. These trade agreements typically state that for goods produced in the EU, the third country will not charge import taxes and the other way around. Our products are not produced in the EU, but as mentioned above, in most cases no import taxes apply, so this is not relevant. 

Important! VAT is not the same as import tax, VAT will always be charged, even if your country has a trade agreement with the EU.  

In some countries, like the Russian Federation and other members of the EAEU, only registered companies are allowed to import goods from abroad. Please check with your local authorities.

UK customers

When you order from the UK, your will receive an invoice from Flanders Scientific UK Ltd. based in Andover, Hampshire, and your order will ship directly from within the UK. 20% standard UK VAT is applied to your order. 


VAT number formats:

  • Austria: AT + U + 8 digits, e.g. ATU12345678

  • Belgium: BE + 10 digits, the first digit following the prefix is always zero, e.g. BE0123456789

  • Bulgaria: BG + 9–10 digits, e.g. BG123456789

  • Croatia: HR + 11 digit number, e.g. HR12345678901

  • Cyprus: CY + 9 characters, e.g. CY12345678L

  • Czech Republic: CZ + 8-10 digits, e.g CZ12345678

  • Denmark: DK + 8 digits, e.g. DK12345678

  • Estonia: EE + 9 digits, e.g. EE123456789

  • Finland: FI + 8 digits, e.g. FI12345678

  • France: FR + 2 digits (validation) + 9 digits (SIREN), e.g. FRXX123456789

  • Germany: DE + 9 digits, e.g. DE123456789

  • Greece: EL + 9 digits, eg EL123456789

  • Hungary: HU + 8 digits, e.g. HU12345678

  • Ireland: IE + 7 digits and one letter, optionally followed by a 'W' , or 7 digits and 2 letters, e.g. IE1234567T, IE1234567TW or  IE1234567FA

  • Italy: IT + 11 digits, e.g. IT12345678123

  • Latvia: LV +11 digits, e.g. LV12345678901

  • Lithuania: LT + 9 or 12 digits, e.g. LT123456789012

  • Luxembourg: LU + 8 digits, e.g. LU12345678

  • Malta: MT + 8 digits, e.g. MT12345678

  • Netherlands: NL + 9 digits + B + 2 digits, e.g. NL123456789B01

  • Norway: NO + 9 digits, e.g NO123456789

  • Poland: PL + 10 digits, e.g. PL1234567890

  • Portugal: PT + 9 digits, e.g. PT123456789

  • Romania: RO + 2-10 digits, e.g. RO123456789

  • Slovakia: SK + 10 digits, e.g. SK1234567890

  • Slovenia: SI + 8 digits, e.g. SI12345678

  • Spain: ES + letter + 8 digits, ES + letter + 7 digits + letter or ES + 8 digits + letter, e.g. ES12345678R

  • Sweden: SE + 12 digits, e.g. SE123456789012

  • Switzerland: CHE- + 9 digits + TVA or IVA or MWST, e.g. CHE-123.456.789MWST or CHE-123.456.789TVA or CHE-123.456.789IVA  

  • United Kingdom: GB + 9 - 12 digits, GB + GD + 3 digits or GB + HA + 3 digits, e.g. GB123456789  

When in doubt, please always contact us before ordering.