A freelancer’s website in Belgium has to show who is behind it: your name or business name, the address where you are established, a way to contact you including an email address, and your KBO/BCE enterprise number. If your activity is subject to VAT, add your VAT number. Regulated professions add their professional body and title. It takes about ten minutes to get right.
How many sites actually get this right?
Fewer than you would expect. Between 1 February and 6 December 2024, the FPS Economy (FOD Economie) inspection checked 2,158 websites and web pages. Of those, 47.7% (1,030) lacked the identification details of the service provider, and 45.7% showed no enterprise number. The inspection called a missing enterprise number a fundamental breach of the regulations. The results were published on 5 August 2025.
Which details do I have to show?
The FPS Economy lists these for a business website or social media page, even if you sell nothing there. The rule also covers the liberal professions.
| Detail | When it applies |
|---|---|
| Name of your business, or your own name if you have no business name | Always |
| Address where you are established | Always |
| Contact details that allow fast, effective communication, including an email address | Always |
| Phone number | If consumers can conclude a contract with you at a distance through the site |
| KBO/BCE enterprise number | Always |
| VAT number, written “BTW BE” plus the enterprise number | If your activity is subject to VAT |
| Supervisory authority | If your activity needs a licence |
| Professional body, title and reference to the professional rules | Regulated professions |
| Code of conduct, and where it can be read | If you are subject to one |
According to the FPS Economy, an online contact form may be enough for the contact details under specific conditions. Check those conditions for your own case.
The same duty applies to your business pages on social media. A line in your bio with your enterprise number, plus a link to your legal page, is a practical way to cover it.
I follow the FPS Economy’s own guidance here, which does not cite the articles of the Code of Economic Law. For your own case, check with an accountant or a lawyer. This is not legal advice.
Is my enterprise number the same as my VAT number?
Yes, the same ten digits. The FPS Economy writes the VAT number as “BTW BE” followed by the enterprise number. Enterprise numbers used to start with 0. That series ran out, and the first number starting with 1 was assigned on 19 September 2023. Older businesses keep their number starting with 0. If you are not subject to VAT, you only show the enterprise number.
I use the small business VAT exemption. What do I write?
FPS Finance sets the limit at EUR 25,000 of annual turnover, before VAT. Under the exemption you do not charge VAT, you do not file periodic VAT returns and you cannot deduct VAT on your purchases. You remain subject to VAT, so you keep a VAT number. You also keep your invoicing and accounting obligations, and you report your previous year’s turnover once a year through the annual customer listing.
I could not find an official source for the exact wording the exemption requires on invoices, so I leave it out. Ask your accountant, and read articles 56bis to 56undecies of the VAT Code, which FPS Finance links on its page. I also found no source on a mention required on the website itself.
On my own site, the footer shows my name, address, enterprise number and VAT number. My terms and conditions state, under price and payment, that VAT is not charged and that Ovrick applies the small business exemption under article 56bis of the VAT Code.
Do I have to show a phone number?
Email is part of the required contact details. A phone number is required when consumers can conclude a contract with you at a distance through your site, for example by booking and paying online. Many freelancers show a number anyway, and that is their choice.
Do I have to publish my home address?
The FPS Economy asks for the address where you are established. I could not confirm from an official source how this works for a sole trader who works from home, or whether a separate address can be registered to replace it, so I leave that to your ondernemingsloket. Ask them before you decide.
Two smaller points. DNS Belgium says a lookup returns no details about private persons who hold a domain, and a contact form forwards messages to the holder. And on Google, the guidelines say a service-area business should hide its business address. The Google Business Profile guide covers that setup, and the guide to domain, hosting and email explains how the domain side works.
What is the difference between a legal notice and a privacy policy?
The legal notice says who you are. The privacy policy says what you do with visitors’ data. They can sit on one page, but they answer different questions.
My own privacy page names who is responsible and how to reach them, what is collected, on what legal basis, how long it is kept, what rights people have, and that they can complain to the Data Protection Authority. If you have a contact form, say what happens to what people type into it.
If your site sets cookies beyond the strictly necessary ones, the Belgian authority’s cookie checklist (2023) says to set no non-essential cookie before valid consent, not to offer an “accept all” button without a “refuse all” button on the same layer, and not to nudge with colour. A site with no tracking and no cookies has less to do here. The cookie banner guide goes further.
What changes for a regulated profession?
On top of the normal details, you show the professional body or register you belong to, your professional title, and a reference to the professional rules.
Health practitioners have a stricter rule on what they may write. Article 31 of the Quality of Care Act (22 April 2019) lets a practitioner publish “practice information” that is truthful, objective, relevant and verifiable, and scientifically substantiated. It must not encourage unnecessary examinations or treatments, and it must not aim to recruit patients. Check with your own professional body before you publish.
A two-minute check you can run today
- Open your site on your phone. Can you find your name, address, email and enterprise number in two taps?
- Compare the enterprise number with your own registration. It has ten digits.
- If your activity is subject to VAT, is the number written “BTW BE” followed by the same digits?
- Check your LinkedIn and Instagram pages for the same details.
- If you have a contact form or cookies, is there a privacy policy linked next to it?
If you build your site on a builder or a CMS, the legal page is just another page you can edit. The guide to builders, CMSs and custom builds compares the routes. I build freelancer sites at Ovrick, and the legal page is part of every one. The pricing page shows what a site costs.
Where can I read more?
Sources I checked on 11 October 2026:
- FPS Economy: what to show on your business website (22 October 2021, Dutch)
- FPS Economy: inspection results for 2024 (5 August 2025, Dutch)
- FPS Economy: enterprise numbers now start with 1 (22 September 2023, Dutch)
- FPS Finance: VAT exemption scheme for small businesses
- Data Protection Authority: cookie checklist (Dutch)
- DNS Belgium: registrant privacy
- Google: service-area businesses
- Quality of Care Act of 22 April 2019, article 31 (Dutch)