Belgium Replaces the VAT Current Account on May 1, 2026

On May 1, 2026, the Belgian SPF Finances retires the VAT current account (compte courant TVA / BTW-rekening-courant) and replaces it with the new VAT provision account (compte-provisions / provisierekening). This is the next step of the VAT chain modernization that began on January 1, 2025.

If you file VAT in Belgium, this changes how you pay, how you get refunded, and which bank account number you wire to. The cutover affects every return from the April 2026 period onward.

This article is informational. Confirm specifics with your accountant, tax advisor, or the SPF Finances.

The short version

• The provision account is not the current account renamed. It only holds two things: VAT credits you did not ask to be refunded, and money you paid in advance.
• The remaining current account balance transfers automatically on April 30, 2026, provided all your periodic returns are filed.
• The bank account numbers change. Wire regular VAT payments to BE41 6792 0036 4210. Remove the old IBAN from your accounting software.
• Refunds requested through your periodic return are capped at what you declare in grid 72. To recover the rest of your credit, file a refund request in MyMinfin.
• The summer penalty tolerance is gone. Penalties will be applied flexibly during the 2026 transition, but do not plan your calendar around that.

What actually changes

The VAT current account was a running ledger: amounts you owed and credits you had accrued lived on the same account, which is one reason the PFORM671 PDF was always such a headache to reconcile.

The provision account works differently. It only tracks money that is sitting there, available for future VAT settlement. Specifically:

• VAT credits from periodic returns where you did not request a refund, or where you requested one but the conditions were not met.
• Early payments you make in anticipation of a future return.

Debts owed to the SPF do not live on this account. Refund requests you actually submitted do not live here either. What you see is a clean balance of "money parked and ready to settle what you owe next".

Who is affected and when

Filer type	First return under the new system
Monthly filers	April 2026 return
Quarterly filers	Q2 2026 return

Monthly filers submitting the April return in May 2026 are the first wave through the new regime.

The new bank account numbers

Wire transfers are the one place you cannot afford to get this wrong. Update your accounting software, your bank templates, and your standing orders.

Account	When to use
BE41 6792 0036 4210	Topping up the provision account, paying periodic VAT (before or after the deadline), late interest, and penalties without an enforcement title
BE42 6792 0000 0054	Payments after an enforcement title has been issued, and other specific VAT debts

Structured communication rules are unchanged: keep using the structured reference produced by Intervat or your accounting tool for each payment.

How the SPF will actually use your provisions

Once funds are sitting in your provision account, the SPF can automatically apply them in three situations:

1. When you file a periodic return with an amount due. The provision covers it, including late interest and penalties if any.
2. When the SPF issues a substitute return because you failed to file. Same treatment, including interest.
3. At the end of each quarter. Any undisputed VAT debt still outstanding is paid from your provision balance.

The practical consequence: any balance you leave on the provision account is working capital the SPF can use to settle undisputed debts. If you want it back, request a refund through MyMinfin.

What happens to your existing current account balance

Two scenarios on April 30, 2026.

All returns filed and clean. Your balance migrates automatically to the new provision account. You do nothing.

One or more returns missing. You get a short regularization window of a few weeks. If gaps remain, the administration decides whether to refund the balance or offset it against open debts. The decision is theirs, not yours.

Action item: if you have any outstanding returns, file them before April 30.

Refunds work differently now

This is the rule most finance teams will trip on.

• Refunds requested through the periodic return are capped at the amount you declare in grid 72. That is what flows back through the return process.
• The rest of your provision balance can be refunded, but only through a separate request in MyMinfin.

In practice, if you want to recover your entire VAT credit, plan on using two channels. Declare in grid 72 what the return process supports, then file a MyMinfin refund request for any remaining balance in the provision account.

The summer tolerance is gone

Historically, late filings or payments in July and August received softer penalty treatment. That regime is discontinued under the new system.

The ITAA (the Belgian institute for accountants and tax advisors) negotiated a transitional concession: penalties will be applied with flexibility during 2026. Treat that as a one-time grace period while teams adapt to the new calendar, not as permission to be late.

Everything centralizes in MyMinfin

MyMinfin becomes the single interface for VAT credits and payments:

• View your provision balance in real time.
• See a detailed breakdown of credits and payments.
• Make top-up payments.
• Submit refund requests for any portion of your provision.

If your accountant has not yet set up MyMinfin access for your entity, do it this month.

April 2026 action checklist

Work through this list before the cutover.

• File every outstanding VAT return. Missing returns block the automatic balance transfer.
• Update the SPF Finances IBAN in your accounting software to BE41 6792 0036 4210.
• Update any standing orders or payment templates that reference the old IBAN.
• Verify MyMinfin access for every VAT-registered entity you manage.
• If you typically carry a large VAT credit, decide your refund strategy: claim via grid 72, request via MyMinfin, or leave as a provision.
• Brief finance and ops teams on the new refund workflow so they do not assume grid 72 recovers everything.
• Avoid scheduling VAT payments across the April 30 to May 1 boundary. Give the migration a clean window.

For accountants managing multiple clients

A few multipliers worth planning for.

Portfolio-wide filing audit. Identify every client with a missing return and close those before April 30. One late filer can block one automatic transfer, and that is a manual recovery you do not want.

Per-client provision strategy. Some clients benefit from leaving credit as a provision because it auto-settles future debts with zero effort. Others need their cash back and should refund aggressively through MyMinfin. Make that call deliberately, client by client.

Communicate the new IBAN explicitly. Clients who pay VAT manually are the most likely to wire to the old account out of habit. A short note with the new number prevents at least a few bounced or misrouted payments.

Reconciliation should get easier over time. The provision account produces a cleaner statement than the old PFORM671, so monthly close friction should drop once the system settles.

What we are doing at Financica

Financica's VAT tracking handles the current account and PFORM671 workflow today. We are rolling out provision account support for the May 1 cutover:

• The updated SPF IBAN pre-populated in payment workflows.
• A provision balance view alongside your VAT payable position.
• Refund flagging that distinguishes grid 72 return refunds from MyMinfin provision refunds.

If you are closing the April 2026 return with us, you will see the new workflow land before your filing deadline. Questions or specific migration concerns, talk to us through the app.

Sources

• SPF Finances: Le compte-provisions TVA remplace le compte courant à partir du 1er mai 2026 (March 4, 2026). finances.belgium.be
• ITAA Blog: Modernisation de la chaîne TVA, changements importants à partir du 1er mai 2026 (March 5, 2026).
• SPF Finances: VAT current account reference page (updated 2026).