Does a scanned letter have the same legal value as the paper original in Belgium?

Not automatically. Belgian law accepts electronic evidence and the eIDAS regulation forbids dismissing a document merely for being digital, but the judge assesses its evidential weight case by case. A plain scan keeps value as an indication; a copy dematerialized with probative value, with integrity and timestamping, is far stronger. For deeds with a handwritten signature or subject to a particular form, it is better to keep the original.

What is the difference between digitizing and dematerialization with probative value?

Digitizing means producing a readable electronic copy of a paper document, without any particular guarantee. Dematerializing with probative value means digitizing under conditions that ensure integrity (digital fingerprint), timestamping, traceability and reliable storage. Every document with probative value is digitized, but not the other way around. The difference lies in the process, not the file obtained.

How long must documents be kept in Belgium?

Invoices and accounting records are kept for 7 years, as are most VAT documents (up to 15 years for certain immovable investment property). Social documents range from 5 years to much longer periods depending on their nature, with some staff data required to be kept up to 30 years. For contracts, aligning with the civil limitation period (often 10 years) is prudent. The clock runs regardless of the medium, paper or digital.

Can the paper original be destroyed after dematerialization?

In most everyday cases (invoices, commercial letters, administrative notices), dematerialization with probative value lets you do without the original day to day; it may be destroyed after a reasonable control period. Some documents are exceptions: authentic deeds, wills, items with a handwritten signature that could be required in court, securities and commercial instruments. When in doubt about a specific document, keep the original for the applicable limitation period.

Mail dematerialization: legal value in Belgium

Q: What does the eIDAS regulation bring to mail archiving?

eIDAS frames trust services at European level: qualified timestamp, electronic seal and qualified electronic archiving service. Using a qualified provider brings a presumption of reliability, which markedly strengthens probative value in a dispute. While not mandatory for every document, using qualified services is strongly recommended for sensitive or high-stakes items.

Why the question of legal value matters

A Belgian SME digitizing its inbound mail often skips a central question: does the scan carry the same value as a paper original before a judge, a tax inspector or an auditor? Many assume a PDF "stands as proof". The reality is more nuanced. An ordinary scan rarely proves, on its own, that a document was not altered after capture.

That nuance changes everything the moment a dispute, a VAT audit or a social inspection arises. Good practice distinguishes two goals: saving time day to day (digitizing) and securing the archive legally (dematerializing with probative value). This article covers legal value and compliant archiving; for the hardware and OCR, see our dedicated guide on scanning hardware, OCR and software.

Digitizing is not dematerializing

The two terms are often wrongly confused.

Digitizing means producing a readable electronic copy of a paper document — a PDF, an image. The goal is practical: consultation, sharing, filing.
Dematerializing with probative value means digitizing under conditions that guarantee the electronic copy can stand as proof: verifiable integrity, timestamping, traceability of the capture and storage in a reliable system.

In other words, every document with probative value is digitized, but not every digitized document has probative value. The difference lies in the process: a plain scan dropped into a shared folder offers no guarantee against later modification; a controlled dematerialization chain does.

The probative value of a scanned document in Belgium

Under Belgian law, the principle is freedom of evidence between businesses. An electronic document is not rejected merely for being digital: the Civil Code and the European eIDAS regulation state that a document may not be dismissed solely because of its electronic form. A judge assesses evidential weight case by case.

What counts in that assessment:

Integrity: can you show the document has not been modified since capture?
Identification of the author or sender of the mail.
Reliability of the process of digitization and storage.

In practice, a plain scan keeps some value — as an indication — but its weight is weaker than a paper original or a properly dematerialized copy. For sensitive documents (contracts, formal notices, deeds), it is prudent to strengthen the chain or even keep the original. The upstream sorting and indexing, described in our article on processing inbound mail, also shape the quality of the archive.

Archiving with probative value: integrity, timestamping, traceability

Archiving said to carry "probative value" rests on four technical pillars:

Integrity: a digital fingerprint (hash) is computed at capture. Any later change would break it, proving the absence of alteration.
Timestamping: a qualified timestamp (in the eIDAS sense) fixes a certain date on which the document existed in that form.
Traceability: an access and operations log documents who captured, viewed or moved the document.
Reliable storage: durable, redundant storage that faithfully restores the document over the entire legal period.

The eIDAS regulation frames trust services at European level: electronic signature, qualified timestamp, electronic seal and qualified electronic archiving service. Using a qualified provider brings a presumption of reliability, which markedly strengthens probative value in the event of a challenge. For registered items received digitally, electronic registered mail and the eBox already provide these guarantees natively.

Legal retention periods

Dematerializing does not remove retention obligations: the legal clock runs whatever the medium. The main benchmarks in Belgium:

Invoices and accounting documents: 7 years (accounting supporting documents), counted from 1 January following the financial year.
VAT documents: generally 7 years too; up to 15 years for documents relating to immovable investment property.
Social and staff documents: from 5 years (certain social documents) up to much longer periods — pension-related data or staff registers may, for instance, need to be kept up to 30 years depending on the case.
Commercial contracts: at least 10 years is prudent, aligned with civil limitation periods.

The archiving system must restore the document readable and intact throughout the applicable period. This point is often underestimated: a proprietary format unreadable in ten years does not meet the obligation.

GDPR and confidentiality

Inbound mail frequently contains personal data: pay slips, medical correspondence, bank data, disputes. Dematerialization must therefore respect the GDPR (AVG in Dutch):

Minimization and duration: do not keep beyond the necessary or legal period, then delete.
Security: encryption, least-privilege access control, hosting in Belgium or the EU.
Processing register: the digitization and archiving activity must be recorded.
Sub-processing: a data processing agreement (Article 28 GDPR) governs the use of an external provider.

Note: the GDPR retention rule (keep as briefly as possible) and the accounting obligation to keep 7 years may seem to conflict. In practice, the legal retention obligation is a valid basis; deletion only becomes mandatory beyond those periods.

Should you keep the paper original?

In most everyday cases, careful dematerialization is enough and the original may be destroyed after a control period. But some documents justify keeping the paper:

Deeds subject to a particular form (certain authentic deeds, wills).
Documents bearing a handwritten signature whose original could be required in court.
Securities and commercial instruments, guarantees, documents whose original a third party may demand.

For everything else — invoices, commercial letters, administrative notices — a probative-value chain makes the paper original superfluous day to day. When in doubt about a specific document, keep the original for the relevant limitation period.

Compliance checklist

Before considering your dematerialization "compliant", check that:

The process guarantees integrity (fingerprint / hash at capture).
A reliable timestamp, ideally eIDAS-qualified, is applied.
Traceability (access log) is active.
Legal retention periods are configured per document type.
Hosting is in Belgium / EU and GDPR is respected.
The paper originals to keep are identified and stored separately.
The archiving format stays readable long term (PDF/A, for example).

Summary

Dematerializing inbound mail is only a legal asset if it is done with probative value: integrity, timestamping, traceability and reliable archiving. A plain pile of PDFs does not meet that requirement. By framing the process and respecting retention periods and the GDPR, a Belgian SME calmly prepares for a tax audit or a dispute — while gaining the everyday comfort of digital. This topic sits within our complete guide to business mail management and complements our digitization workflow for SMEs. To frame your compliant archiving, contact the Bjet24 team.