Starting out your business
Before you can start doing business in Belgium, you need to register yourself or your company with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises. In many cases you also need to register with the VAT authorities. You should also activate your e-Box Enterprise, in order to receive official documents via a secured email box.
If your company isn’t registered in Belgium yet, you should register it with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE). Upon registration in the CBE you will receive a company registration number, a unique identification number consisting of 10 digits, starting with 0 or 1. Find more information on Registration in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE) on the Federal Public Service Economy website. While going through the registration process with the CBE, the legal representatives of your company will also receive a unique BIS number (an identification number for persons not registered in the Belgian National Register). You can contact an accredited business counter to help you.
Before starting your business activities in Belgium, you need to check whether you are subject to VAT. If this is the case you need to register with the VAT authorities. Find more information on VAT on the Federal Public Service Finance website.
Register your company within CSAM to set up initial access to e-government online services and to have an e-Box Enterprise mailbox assigned to your company. Find detailed information on the CSAM website and in the CSAM Step-by-step guide on how to appoint Access Managers.
Please note: once registered within CSAM, EU citizens can use eIDAS to log on to available online services or to give additional persons (Access Managers) access to online services. Find more information on eIDAS in the CSAM Help centre.
e-Box Enterprise is the secure mailbox for all official communication between companies and government institutions. Every company registered in Belgium has its own secured e-Box. A legal representative needs to activate e-Box and appoint all persons needing access. Find more information on how to activate and use e-Box in the step-by-step guide.
For more information on the CBE, contact FPS Economy by sending an e-mail at: helpdesk.kbo@economie.fgov.be.
For more information on VAT, contact the FPS Finance.
For more information on online services and e-Box Enterprise, contact the NSSO by telephone at +32 2 511 51 51 or fill out the NSSO contact form (in French).
