Service by service
Everything in this table comes from Revenue’s rate pages and its VAT on services section, fetched on the date in the sources block below. Where a service is not named anywhere, the standard rate applies.
| Service | Rate | Revenue source |
|---|---|---|
| Solicitors, barristers and other legal services | 23% | Legal services page: standard rate |
| Consultancy, accountancy, IT, design, marketing and other professional services | 23% | Standard rate page: consultancy services listed; most services |
| Long-term hire and leasing | 23% | Not among the reduced-rate categories, so standard rate |
| Building, construction and related trades on property | 13.5% | Reduced rate page: certain building services. See VAT on building work |
| Repair services, cleaning and maintenance (generally) | 13.5% | Reduced rate page |
| Short-term hire (cars, boats, caravans and similar) | 13.5% | Reduced rate page: short-term hire |
| Hotel, guesthouse and holiday accommodation | 13.5% | Guest and holiday accommodation page: reduced rate; duration of stay does not matter |
| Admission to cinemas, theatres, museums, exhibitions, fairgrounds, open farms; tour guides | 13.5% | Reduced rate page |
| Hairdressing | 9% | Second reduced rate page: from 1 July 2026 (13.5% from 1 September 2023 to 30 June 2026) |
| Restaurant and catering services (not alcohol, soft drinks or bottled water) | 9% | Second reduced rate page: from 1 July 2026. See VAT on restaurants |
| Facilities for taking part in sport, supplied by a commercial operator | 9% | Second reduced rate page |
| Medical services by a recognised medical professional | Exempt | Medical services page |
| School and university education, private tuition in those subjects, qualifying vocational training | Exempt | Education services page |
| Letting of property | Exempt | Letting page: exempt, landlord may opt to tax except residential lettings |
Why 23% is the default
Revenue’s standard rate page says VAT at the standard rate “applies to most goods and services”, and gives solicitor services and consultancy services among its examples. The reduced and second reduced rate pages are lists of named exceptions. If what you sell is not on either list and is not exempt, you charge 23%. That covers the bulk of the service economy: professional advice, software and IT work, design, agency and marketing work, training that is not education in the legal sense, and long-term leasing.
On a €1,000 fee the VAT is €230 and the invoice total is €1,230. Working backwards from a gross figure, divide by 1.23: a €2,460 invoice is €2,000 net. The reverse VAT calculator handles the second case; the calculator above handles the first.
The 13.5% services
Revenue’s reduced rate page lists “certain building services”, “repair services”, “cleaning and maintenance services (generally)”, short-term hire and tour guide services, plus hotel lettings and admissions. This is the rate a plumber, an electrician, a painter, a car mechanic (for the labour) and a cleaning company charge. The catch in every one of those trades is materials: parts, paint, fittings. That is what the two-thirds rule below is for. Hotel and guesthouse stays are 13.5% too, and Revenue’s accommodation page says the length of the stay does not change the rate.
The 9% services
Two everyday services moved from 13.5% to 9% on 1 July 2026: hairdressing, and restaurant and catering services (excluding alcohol, soft drinks and bottled water). Revenue’s second reduced rate page dates the change and notes the 13.5% period that ran from 1 September 2023 to 30 June 2026. The same page lists facilities for taking part in sport, when supplied by someone other than a non-profit body, at 9%: a commercial gym or a five-a-side pitch operator. Barbers and salons are the ones to watch on receipts, because a product sold over the counter is still a 23% good.
Exempt services
Exempt is not the same as 0%. An exempt supplier charges no VAT and reclaims none of the VAT on its own costs. Revenue’s medical services page exempts medical services “when provided by a recognised medical professional” for protecting, maintaining or restoring health, or diagnosing and treating illness. Its education page exempts children’s and young people’s education, school and university education, private tuition covering school or university subjects, and vocational training that meets certain conditions. Its letting page says lettings of property are exempt, though a landlord may opt to tax a commercial letting; residential lettings cannot be opted. Insurance and most financial services are also outside the VAT net, which is why Revenue names insurers and banks as the typical VAT-exempt businesses that still have to register to account for services bought from abroad.
Services that include goods: the two-thirds rule
Revenue’s two-thirds rule page: if the VAT-exclusive cost of the goods used in the job exceeds two-thirds of the total VAT-exclusive price, the rate for the goods applies to the whole transaction. If it does not, the rate for the service applies to the whole transaction. Revenue’s example is a guitar repair quoted at €300 plus VAT, made up of €220 of materials at 23% and €80 of labour. €220 is more than two-thirds of €300, so VAT is €69 on the full €300 at 23%. Had the materials been €150, the whole job would have been at the repair rate of 13.5%. Revenue exempts three cases from the rule: repair and maintenance of motor vehicles and agricultural machinery, construction services where the principal contractor accounts for the VAT, and construction services between connected parties.
Services bought from abroad
When an Irish business buys a service from a supplier in another country, the supplier does not normally charge Irish VAT. Revenue’s page on self-accounting for received services says the Irish business is “regarded as the supplier of the services for VAT purposes”, must account for the VAT in its own return at the Irish rate, and may reclaim it in the same return. Give the supplier your VAT number, otherwise you may be charged their local VAT instead. Revenue’s example is a €100,000 consultancy fee from a German firm: €23,000 of Irish VAT goes into the T1 box and, where the business has full recovery, the same €23,000 into T2. There is no threshold for this, and VAT-exempt businesses must register to do it. The VAT3 guide shows the boxes.
For service businesses
Registration becomes compulsory once services turnover passes €42,500 in a calendar year, VAT-exclusive; the VAT threshold page has the details. After that, quote net and show VAT separately so business customers can see what they reclaim, check a new EU customer’s number with the VAT number check before treating a cross-border service as reverse-charged, and put each rate on its own line when a job mixes 13.5% labour with 23% goods. Every Irish rate side by side is on the VAT rates page.