Hospitality VAT · 2026

VAT on restaurants, cafes and takeaways in Ireland

The food is at 9%. The drinks might not be. Since 1 July 2026 restaurant meals, catering, hot takeaway food and hot drinks are back at the second reduced rate, while alcohol, soft drinks and bottled water stay at 23%. The calculator is preset to remove 9% from a bill; the timeline and the bill-splitting rules follow.

What do you want to do?

Your amount already includes VAT. We show what’s inside.

Amount including VAT

€

VAT rate

Second reduced rate. Electricity and gas (to 31 December 2030), restaurant and catering meals, hot takeaway food, hairdressing (both since 1 July 2026), periodicals, commercial sports facilities.

VATCalculator.ie

Irish VAT breakdown · 2026

Net: €91.74
VAT @ 9%: €8.26
Gross: €100.00

Second reduced rate

* Thank you for your business *

What is at 9% right now

Revenue’s second reduced rate page lists, with effect from 1 July 2026:

catering and restaurant supplies (excluding alcohol, soft drinks and bottled water),
hot take-away food, and hot tea and coffee,
hairdressing services.

The database entries agree: restaurants, bar food, meals in hotels, cafe takeaway hot meals and hot coffee all read “second reduced rate”. The Budget 2026 summary gives a slightly longer exclusion list than the rates page: alcohol, bottled waters, soft drinks, sports drinks and vegetable juices stay out of the 9%.

The timeline since 2020

Period	Rate on restaurant meals and hot takeaway	Source
1 November 2020 to 31 August 2023	9%	Revenue “past rates” list
1 September 2023 to 30 June 2026	13.5%	Revenue footnote on the second reduced rate page
1 July 2026 onwards	9%	Budget 2026 summary; second reduced rate page

Note what the 2020 to 2023 period included that the 2026 change does not: hotel lettings, cinema and museum admissions, fairground amusements and open farms were all at 9% back then. They went back to 13.5% in September 2023 and stayed there. The July 2026 return to 9% is for food, hot drinks and hairdressing only.

Hotels are different

Hotel, guesthouse, caravan park and camping site lettings are on Revenue’s reduced rate page at 13.5%. Budget 2026 did not move them. A hotel invoice for a weekend with dinner therefore shows two rates: 13.5% on the room and 9% on the meal, because meals in hotels are catering. Drinks from the bar are 23%. Use the 13.5% calculator for the room and this page’s calculator for the food.

Splitting a bill

A table of four has dinner for €180 and two bottles of wine for €70. The food is at 9% and the wine at 23%. Back the VAT out separately:

Food: €180 ÷ 1.09 = €165.14 net, €14.86 VAT.
Wine: €70 ÷ 1.23 = €56.91 net, €13.09 VAT.
Total VAT on a €250 bill: €27.95.

If the receipt shows one VAT line, the till has already done this split. If it shows none, ask for a VAT receipt before relying on it. The reverse VAT calculator handles each line.

Takeaways and deli counters

Hot food to go is 9%. Cold food to go is 0%. Hot tea and coffee are 9%. Soft drinks and bottled water are 23%. So the same shop sells a breakfast roll at 9%, a chicken salad at 0% and a bottle of water at 23% in one transaction, and its till has to record all three. Revenue’s database entry for cold takeaway food says zero-rated, and the entry for take-away hot food says second reduced rate. The VAT on food page has the wider food rules, including why the chocolate biscuit on the counter is 23%.

For restaurant owners

The July 2026 change means menu prices set at 13.5% now carry more margin if you left them alone, or a lower price if you passed the cut on. A dish that was €20 including 13.5% VAT was €17.62 net. Keep it at €20 and it is €18.35 net at 9%, an extra 73 cent per plate. Drop it to €19.21 and the customer gets the whole cut. Either way, your VAT3 return for July to August 2026 is the first with the new rate, and the VAT3 guide lists the due dates. Revenue’s registration thresholds are on the registration page, and every rate is on the VAT rates page.

Hospitality VAT questions

Since 1 July 2026 catering and restaurant supplies are at the 9% second reduced rate. Revenue’s page states the rate applies with effect from 1 July 2026, and that from 1 September 2023 to 30 June 2026 the 13.5% reduced rate applied. Alcohol, soft drinks and bottled water are excluded and stay at 23%.

Yes, for food and hairdressing. Revenue’s Budget 2026 summary says that with effect from 1 July 2026 the 9% rate applies to hairdressing services and to food and drink (excluding alcohol, bottled waters, soft drinks, sports drinks and vegetable juices) when supplied as part of a restaurant, catering or hot takeaway service. Hotel accommodation was not included and remains at 13.5%.

Hot takeaway food, and hot tea and coffee, are 9%. Cold takeaway food such as a sandwich or a salad is 0%, because it is zero-rated food. Revenue has separate database entries for both, so a deli counter can sell at three rates: 0% for the cold roll, 9% for the hot one, 23% for the can beside it.

Hotel, guesthouse, caravan park and camping site lettings are at 13.5%. Revenue lists them on the reduced rate page, not the second reduced rate page. Meals in hotels, however, are catering and are at 9% since 1 July 2026, so a hotel bill can carry both rates.

Sources and method

Every rate on this site was checked against the pages below on 3 September 2026, and an automated check compares our rates with the Revenue tables every week. We compute VAT the way Revenue does: adding VAT multiplies the net by (1 + rate), removing VAT divides the gross by (1 + rate), and every figure is rounded half-up to the cent.

Other VAT tools

VAT calculator 2026 Reverse VAT calculator 13.5% VAT calculator 9% VAT calculator VAT rates in Ireland VAT on food VAT on electricity and gas VAT on clothes VAT on books VAT on cars VAT number check Registering for VAT VAT3 return guide VAT refund for tourists

Running a small business? We also built an invoice generator, a percentage calculator and a VRT calculator for imported cars.