Irish restaurant VAT at 9% from July 2026
Since 1 July 2026 food and drink supplied as part of a restaurant, catering or hot takeaway service is taxed at 9% rather than 13.5%, and hairdressing moved with it. The exclusions decide most real bills: alcohol, bottled water, soft drinks and sports drinks stay at 13.5%, while hot tea, coffee and fruit juice come down to 9%. Hotel accommodation was not part of the change and remains at 13.5%, even though the food served in the same hotel is now 9%.
The same amount in each Irish band
| Standard | 23.00% | 23/123 | €35.45 | €8.15 | €43.60 |
| Reduced | 13.50% | 27/227 | €38.41 | €5.19 | €43.60 |
| Second reduced | 9.00% | 9/109 | €40.00 | €3.60 | €43.60 |
| Livestock | 4.80% | 6/131 | €41.60 | €2.00 | €43.60 |
| Zero-rated | 0.00% | 0 | €43.60 | €0.00 | €43.60 |
An estimate, not legal advice. Rules vary by jurisdiction and change over time. Check the current position with a qualified professional before relying on it.
Restaurant and hot takeaway food is 9% from 1 July 2026; alcohol and soft drinks served with it stay at 13.5%.
Hotel accommodation stayed at 13.5%. The food a hotel serves did not, so one hotel bill can carry both rates.
The change came from Finance Act 2025 and applies from 1 July 2026, not from the start of the tax year.
How it works
The 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.
What it assumes
- 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.
Common questions
Which drinks stayed at 13.5%?
Alcoholic drinks, bottled waters, soft drinks and sports drinks remain at the reduced rate of 13.5%. Hot drinks are treated as part of the food supply and came down to 9%, so a coffee and a bottle of sparkling water bought together at the same counter are now taxed at two different rates.
Does the 9% rate cover hotel rooms?
No. The measure was written for food, catering and hairdressing, and accommodation was deliberately left out. A hotel bill therefore has to separate the room at 13.5% from the restaurant and bar charges, which now sit at 9% and 13.5% respectively depending on whether the line is food or drink.
Sources
Method written and checked by Tessalor on Jul 31, 2026.
The full method, worked example and every assumption behind this figure are on Irish VAT Calculator.