What a Belgian business website must show: the legal checklist

Why this applies to almost every business site

A Belgian business website has to show certain information even when nothing is sold on it. According to FPS Economy, the same goes for your business page on social media and for liberal professions (FPS Economy). Below is each point with the article behind it.

This is general information, not legal advice. The official texts linked below are what counts; we read them on 31 October 2026.

1. Who you are and how to reach you

Article XII.6 of the Code of Economic Law requires every provider of an online service to give visitors and the authorities easy, direct and permanent access to at least the following (Justel, WER):

• your name or trade name
• the geographic address where your business is established
• contact details for quick, direct and effective contact, including an email address
• your enterprise number, where you have one

If consumers can conclude a contract on your site, add a phone number: since 28 May 2022, article VI.45 has listed it, with the email address, among the information a consumer gets before a distance contract.

The rule that puts the enterprise number on a website is point 4 of article XII.6. Article III.25 sets the general rule that acts, invoices, letters, orders and other documents of a business registered in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises always state it. For companies and associations, article 2:20 WVV names websites explicitly (point 4 below).

A legal page linked from every footer keeps these details within reach. Check them against your registration in CBE Public Search.

2. Your VAT number

If your activity is subject to VAT, point 7 of article XII.6 requires your VAT identification number. FPS Economy describes it as BE followed by your enterprise number.

3. Licences, regulated professions and codes of conduct

Three points of article XII.6 apply only to some businesses:

• If your activity needs a licence, give the details of the competent supervisory authority. FPS Economy gives a real estate agent as an example.
• If you work in a regulated profession, name the professional body you are registered with, your professional title and the state that granted it, and refer to the professional rules and where to read them.
• If you have signed up to a code of conduct, say so and say where it can be read online.

4. Extra details for companies and associations

A legal person, such as a BV, NV, CV or vzw, also falls under article 2:20 of the Code of Companies and Associations. It names websites next to deeds, invoices, letters and orders (Justel, WVV). The site must show:

• the name of the legal person
• its legal form, in full or abbreviated
• the exact address of its registered office
• the enterprise number
• the word "rechtspersonenregister" or the letters RPR (in French "registre des personnes morales" or RPM), followed by the court of the registered office
• where applicable, its email address and website, and the fact that it is in liquidation

A sole trader is not a legal person, so article 2:20 does not apply to them. Points 1 to 3 do.

5. Prices for consumers include VAT

Prices shown to consumers must be in writing and unambiguous (art. VI.3 WER). The price shown is the total the consumer pays, including VAT, all other taxes and any service the consumer is obliged to pay for (art. VI.4), and it is given at least in euro (art. VI.5; see also FPS Economy). Article XII.6 adds that a website that mentions prices must say clearly whether taxes and delivery costs are included.

6. A privacy notice

A contact form, a newsletter sign-up or a booking request collects personal data. At the moment you collect it, article 13 of the GDPR requires you to tell people (EUR-Lex):

• who you are and how to contact you, and your data protection officer's contact details if you have one
• why you process the data and on what legal basis, including your legitimate interests if you rely on them
• who receives the data, and any transfer outside the EU with its safeguards
• how long you keep it, or how you decide that
• their rights to access, correction, erasure, restriction, objection and data portability, to withdraw consent, and to complain to a supervisory authority
• whether they have to give the data, what happens if they don't, and any automated decision-making

Put the notice on its own page and link to it next to every form.

7. Cookie consent, as the GBA explains it

Storing or reading information on a visitor's device needs clear information and consent, unless it is strictly necessary to transmit a communication or to deliver a service the visitor explicitly asked for. Since 10 January 2022 that rule is in article 10/2 of the data protection law of 30 July 2018 (Justel). The Data Protection Authority (GBA) explains it in practice (GBA):

• Only strictly necessary functional and technical cookies are exempt. Analytics cookies need consent too.
• Before you ask, tell people who places the cookies, why, what they collect and how long they last.
• A pre-ticked box is not valid consent, and neither is continuing to browse.
• A button to accept all cookies needs a button to refuse all non-essential cookies at the same level of the banner.
• Withdrawing consent must be as easy as giving it, for example with a cookie settings link in the footer of every page.
• Blocking the site for visitors who refuse, a so-called cookie wall, is not compliant according to the GBA.

8. If you sell online

A webshop, or any site where consumers book and pay, has much more to show. Before a distance contract, article VI.45 requires among other things the main characteristics, the total price with taxes and delivery costs, the payment and delivery terms, the withdrawal conditions with the model withdrawal form, and a reminder of the legal guarantee. The order button must say "bestelling met betalingsverplichting" (in French "commande avec obligation de paiement") or something equally unambiguous (art. VI.46). Consumers have 14 days to withdraw without giving a reason (art. VI.47).

Since 14 August 2026, a distance contract concluded through a website or app also needs a withdrawal function on the site itself, labelled "hier de overeenkomst herroepen" or "renoncer au contrat ici", or an equally clear wording (art. VI.61/2). The FPS Economy guidelines put all these duties in the order of the sales process.

9. Accessibility

Whether the European Accessibility Act applies to your site depends on what the site does and on the size of your business. We explain it in a separate article.

The checklist

• Name, geographic address, email address and a quick way to reach you, plus a phone number if consumers can conclude a contract on the site
• Your enterprise number, checked against CBE Public Search
• Your VAT number (BE plus the enterprise number) if your activity is subject to VAT
• Supervisory authority, professional details or code of conduct, where they apply to you
• For a company or association: legal form, registered office, and RPR or RPM with the court
• Consumer prices including VAT and other compulsory costs, in euro, with delivery costs made clear
• A privacy notice with the article 13 information, linked next to every form
• A cookie banner with refuse next to accept, no pre-ticked boxes, no analytics before consent, and a settings link in the footer
• For a webshop: the FPS Economy guidelines, point by point
• The same identification details on your business pages on social media

Our free website check looks at your site's https, security settings and the basics that Google and visitors notice. It does not check the legal points above, so go through this list yourself. Planning a new site or a redesign? Our web design page explains how we work.