Responding to the VAT increase: uniting the sector's voice
In 2025, the Belgian cultural and event sectors were confronted with a major policy shock: the proposed increase of VAT on ticketing from 6% to 12%. For nightlife venues, festivals, and event organisers already operating under mounting financial pressure, the announcement threatened to further destabilise an ecosystem still recovering from the pandemic and facing rising operational costs.In response, Brussels By Night (BBN) took the initiative to coordinate and launch a sector-wide reaction note, bringing together key federations and professional networks to publicly warn about the consequences of the measure and call for meaningful dialogue with the federal government.
Our Contribution
Initiating a collective response
BBN drafted and circulated the initial reaction note that quickly became a shared position for the wider music, nightlife, and events ecosystem.
The document highlighted the immediate risks of the proposed VAT increase: at a time when venues and organisers were already dealing with rising costs, stricter regulations, and declining purchasing power among audiences, doubling the tax rate on ticketing would create an additional shock that many structures simply could not absorb.
By taking the lead, BBN helped transform scattered concerns into a coordinated sectoral response.
Building a broad coalition and meeting the cabinets
The note rapidly gathered support from a wide range of organisations representing different parts of the ecosystem.
Alongside BBN, networks including RABKO, Court-Circuit, FestivalFederationBE, Event Confederation, and ClubCircuit joined the initiative, demonstrating the breadth of concern across music and event sectors and led to a meeting with M. Jambon cabinet.
Highlighting the economic and cultural stakes
The joint statement emphasised that nightlife and events are not marginal activities, but key drivers of cultural vitality, employment, and international attractiveness.
By increasing ticket prices or reducing already narrow margins, the proposed measure risked to weaken the financial sustainability of venues and festivals, limit access to culture for audiences, discouraging artistic risk-taking and programming diversity,
undermining an ecosystem that contributes significantly to Belgium’s creative economy. Rather than rejecting fiscal reform outright, BBN and its partners called for time, clarity, and equal treatment, urging authorities to consider the fragile context in which the sector operates.