# Irish VAT Calculator

> Add or remove Irish VAT at 23%, 13.5%, 9%, 4.8% or zero. Ireland runs five bands, two of them fractional, and food, catering and hairdressing moved from 13.5% to 9% on 1 July 2026 while the drinks served with them did not.

Use it: https://tessalor.com/en/country/irish-vat

This tool runs entirely in the browser. Nothing entered into it is uploaded.

## Formula

```
Adding VAT to a price that excludes it:
  vat   = round(net x rate / 100)
  gross = net + vat

Removing VAT from a price that includes it:
  vat = round(gross x rate / (100 + rate))
  net = gross - vat

Irish bands and their VAT fractions:
  standard         23%    23/123
  reduced        13.5%    27/227
  second reduced    9%     9/109
  livestock       4.8%     6/131
  zero              0%     no tax

round = to the nearest cent, half up. No round-down
        option: that concession is British.

Only the VAT is rounded. The third figure is derived from
the other two, so net + vat = gross to the cent, always.
```

## Assumptions

- The five bands are the rates Revenue publishes as current. Which band a supply falls in is a searchable database Revenue maintains rather than a principle to reason from, so this tool applies a rate and does not classify goods.
- The dates on the rate rows are the effective date Revenue's own current-rates table carries, not the date each rate was first set. The standard rate has in fact been 23% since January 2012; where a longer history matters it is in the prose below rather than in the data.
- The 9% rate on food, catering and hairdressing from July 2026 is a reclassification rather than a new rate — supplies moved between two bands that both already existed. The rate values are unchanged, which is why nothing in the table moved with them.
- The 4.5% flat-rate addition is not a VAT rate and is deliberately not one of the bands. It is worked out identically, which is why it is offered as the default typed rate instead.
- Rounding is half up to the cent with no option, for the same reason as the German tool — the round-down concession belongs to HMRC, and offering it here would be inventing a rule.
- Figures are in euros because Irish VAT is denominated in euros. Nothing is converted and no exchange rate is applied anywhere.

## Inputs

| Name | Label | Type | Default | Range |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `amount` | Amount | currency | 100 | 0 to 1000000000 |
| `direction` | What to do with it | select | add |  |
| `band` | Rate band | select | standard |  |
| `rate` | Another rate | percent | 4.5 | 0 to 100 |

## Outputs

- `vatAmount` — VAT (currency), primary
- `netAmount` — Price before VAT (currency)
- `grossAmount` — Price including VAT (currency)
- `rateApplied` — Rate applied (percent)
- `fraction` — VAT fraction (text)

## Questions

### What are the Irish VAT rates?

Five. The standard rate is 23%, which covers everything Revenue has not placed elsewhere. The reduced rate is 13.5%, which still covers building work, hotel accommodation and fuel. The second reduced rate is 9%, which since July 2026 covers restaurant and catering food and hairdressing as well as gas, electricity and newspapers. There is a 4.8% livestock rate, and a zero rate on most food from a shop, children's clothing, books and oral medicines.

### What changed for restaurants on 1 July 2026?

Food and drink supplied as part of a restaurant, catering or hot takeaway service moved from 13.5% to 9%, and hairdressing moved with it, under Finance Act 2025. Alcohol, bottled water, soft drinks and sports drinks were excluded and stay at 13.5%, while hot tea, coffee and fruit juice came down to 9%. Hotel accommodation was not part of the measure, so a hotel bill can now carry two rates on one page.

### Why are the Irish VAT fractions so untidy?

Because two of the five rates are not whole numbers. The fraction is the rate over 100 plus the rate, reduced: 13.5% gives 27/227 and 4.8% gives 6/131, neither of which has a small denominator. Even the standard rate is 23/123, which does not reduce at all. British guidance makes the VAT fraction look like a neat trick because 20% happens to give one sixth; that is the exception rather than the rule.

### Is the 4.5% flat-rate addition a VAT rate?

No, although it is worked out identically and is asked about constantly. A farmer who is not registered for VAT charges a flat-rate addition on agricultural supplies to compensate for tax they cannot reclaim, and a registered buyer deducts it as though it were input tax. It sits outside the five bands, which is why this tool offers it as the default typed rate rather than listing it as a sixth band.

### What does the 4.8% livestock rate cover?

Live cattle, sheep, pigs, deer and goats, greyhounds, and the hire of horses. It is the narrowest band in the system and it exists as an agricultural measure rather than as a general reduced rate, so it does not extend to feed, veterinary services or anything else in the supply chain around the animals themselves.

### Which rate applies to my supply?

Revenue publishes a searchable database of individual goods and services and it is the only reliable way to check an unusual one, because the bands are defined by lists rather than by categories anybody could infer. This tool applies whichever rate you pick; deciding which to pick is a question about the supply and not about arithmetic.

## Sources

- [Current VAT rates — the standard, reduced, second reduced, livestock and flat-rate figures](https://www.revenue.ie/en/vat/vat-rates/search-vat-rates/current-vat-rates.aspx) — Revenue Commissioners, applies to 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- [Finance Act 2025 — notes for guidance, VAT](https://www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/documents/notes-for-guidance/vat/vat-guidance-notes-fa2025.pdf) — Revenue Commissioners, VAT Policy and Legislation Branch, applies to 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- [VAT treatment of restaurant and catering services](https://www.revenue.ie/en/vat/vat-on-services/restaurant-catering-and-canteen-services/index.aspx) — Revenue Commissioners, applies to 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- [Government marks reduction of the VAT rate to 9% for food businesses and hairdressers](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-finance/press-releases/government-marks-reduction-of-vat-rate-to-9-for-food-businesses-and-hairdressers/) — Department of Finance. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- [Second reduced rate of VAT](https://www.revenue.ie/en/vat/vat-rates/what-are-vat-rates/second-reduced-rate-vat.aspx) — Revenue Commissioners, applies to 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-31.

## Variants

- [What VAT applies to restaurant food in Ireland from July 2026?](https://tessalor.com/en/country/irish-vat/vat-on-restaurant-food-at-9-percent)
- [How do I take 23% Irish VAT off a price?](https://tessalor.com/en/country/irish-vat/remove-23-percent-vat-from-a-price)

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