Since 2023, the European DAC7 directive requires digital platforms to file an annual declaration of revenues earned by their users. The 2026 deadline is approaching, and many SMEs operating a marketplace, matchmaking site, or peer-to-peer rental service don't know they're concerned. Here's the clarification.
Who is concerned?
Under DAC7, a "platform operator" is any entity that connects sellers and buyers via a digital interface for:
Real estate rental (residential or commercial, including parking spaces). Provision of personal services (delivery, home assistance, freelance). Sale of goods. Rental of means of transport.
The size of the platform is irrelevant: a niche marketplace with fifty active users is just as concerned as a sector giant.
What must be declared
For each seller who has completed at least 30 operations in the year or received at least €2,000 annually, the platform must transmit to SPF Finances: full identity, VAT number where applicable, address, IBAN, total amount received per quarter, commissions retained.
Transmission goes through the MyMinfin portal, in a standardised XML format at European level. The data is then automatically shared with the tax administrations of other Member States where the sellers reside.
Deadlines
The declaration for the calendar year just ended must be filed by January 31 of the following year at the latest. In other words, 2025 revenues must be declared before January 31, 2026.
In parallel, the platform must provide each seller, before that same date, with a summary of their concerns — to allow them to correctly include the amounts in their own tax return.
Penalties
Non-declaration: fine up to €25,000 per infringement. Incomplete or late declaration: proportional fine with a floor at €1,250. Failure to verify seller identity (light KYC required by the directive): autonomous fine up to €12,500.
The "I'm not a platform" trap
Many SMEs operate, without realising it, a platform in the DAC7 sense. A site connecting independent consultants with clients, against commission. A paid directory taking a share on referrals. A booking service collecting on behalf of professional partners.
Qualification does not depend on the name given to the activity, but on the economic function: facilitation of a transaction against remuneration for the platform. If you collect to redistribute, DAC7 applies.
What must be put in place
Three projects, in this order. Verify your exact qualification — the analysis fits in a 45-minute interview with sector analysis. Adapt your back-office to capture and store the required data (verified identity, IBAN, quarterly breakdown). Set up the annual declaration routine with a clearly designated internal owner.
For an active platform, initial compliance represents between 15 and 30 hours of support. Then, the annual declaration takes half a day. That's proportionate — provided you don't discover DAC7 on January 20.