{"id":94547,"date":"2026-02-22T16:04:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dexxter.be\/expensing-airpods-cost-categories-and-vat-deduction\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T13:25:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T11:25:00","slug":"expensing-airpods-cost-categories-and-vat-deduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dexxter.be\/en\/blog\/expensing-airpods-cost-categories-and-vat-deduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Expensing AirPods: cost categories and VAT deduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A question from the Dexxter community<\/a>: \u201cI bought AirPods. Can I claim them as an expense, and which cost category do they fall under?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This question often comes up among self-employed people, especially when making purchases that are also used for private purposes. In this article, you will find a clear and fiscally correct answer about booking AirPods in sole proprietorships<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which cost category does the purchase of AirPods fit into?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When processing expenses for accounting purposes in Belgium, we distinguish between three main categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Trade goods:<\/strong> only goods that you purchase for resale. This does not<\/strong> apply to AirPods.
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Investments<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> purchases over \u20ac250 with long-term use. AirPods usually do not<\/strong> belong in this category.
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Everything else:<\/strong> the purchase of AirPods is included in this category, because they are small items for professional use<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    \u2705 In concrete terms: book AirPods under any other category<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    It doesn’t matter whether you book AirPods under categories such as technology<\/em>, communication<\/em>, or small purchases<\/em>. As long as you don’t record them as an investment or trading goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    VAT deduction and professional use of AirPods<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The Belgian tax authorities require you to make a reasonable estimate of professional use<\/a><\/strong> for mixed purchases (items that you use for both private and business purposes).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whichever cost category you choose, you must always think about professional use when booking AirPods as an expense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Guidelines for professional use and VAT deduction:<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Professional use of 75%<\/strong> is an often accepted percentage for purchases where there is minimal private use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \ud83e\uddfe Example<\/strong>: If you purchase AirPods for \u20ac199 including VAT, you may record \u20ac123.35 (75%) as a professional expense and recover \u20ac25.90 of the VAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Conclusi<\/strong>on<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    If you want to claim AirPods as a business expense<\/strong> for your sole proprietorship<\/strong>, the cost category you choose is not that important. Just make sure you don’t book them as a trade good or investment. Carefully estimate their professional use and adjust the VAT deduction accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Use your accounting software (such as Dexxter<\/a>) to easily enter these details and choose a suitable subcategory such as \u201ctechnology\u201d or \u201ccommunication.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Do you have any questions or concerns? Share them in our community<\/a> or contact our support team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A question from the Dexxter community: \u201cI bought AirPods. Can I claim them as an expense, and which cost category do they fall under?\u201d This question often comes up among self-employed people, especially when making purchases that are also used for private purposes. In this article, you will find a clear and fiscally correct answer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":94548,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-costs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dexxter.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dexxter.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dexxter.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dexxter.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dexxter.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dexxter.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94549,"href":"https:\/\/dexxter.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94547\/revisions\/94549"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dexxter.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dexxter.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dexxter.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dexxter.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}