In a Belgian context, the following principles should apply from our point of view. In case the event is cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the organiser is obliged to fully reimburse all of its customers, the VAT, that has already been paid to the Belgian Treasury, can be recovered through the periodical VAT return. Please note that the issuance of a credit note is required in case the tickets were sold in a B2B-context. Upon cancellation of the B2B-transaction through a credit note, a VAT refund can be requested accordingly.
In case the event is postponed and not cancelled, in principle, no repayment to the customers will have to be done and therefore no refund of VAT can be claimed.
If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the authors of this article.