VAT rates for hospitality in Ireland: food, drinks, takeaway and rooms

On 1 July 2026 the VAT rate on food and catering in Ireland dropped from 13.5% to 9%. For a busy kitchen that's a real change in the till, but it didn't make hospitality VAT simple. Drinks are still 23%, rooms are still 13.5%, takeaway follows its own rules, and a single bill can carry three rates.

This guide sets out the rates from Revenue's guidance and Tax and Duty Manual, with worked examples. It's general information, not tax advice: check anything unusual with your accountant or Revenue.

The rates at a glance

Ireland has three main VAT rates, unchanged since 1 January 2022: a 23% standard rate, a 13.5% reduced rate and a 9% second reduced rate. Which one applies in hospitality:

The Department of Finance has said the 9% rate for food and catering has no sunset clause. It doesn't apply to hotel accommodation, but it does apply to the food and catering hotels provide.

What changed and when

• 1 November 2020 to 31 August 2023: restaurant and catering at 9%
• 1 September 2023 to 30 June 2026: back to 13.5%
• From 1 July 2026: 9%, with no end date

If you're checking an old invoice or an old menu costing, the date decides the rate.

What counts as a restaurant service

Revenue describes a restaurant service as food or drink supplied with enough support services for it to be eaten there and then, where the service element predominates. Signs of a restaurant service include cooking the food, serving it, table service, staff explaining the menu, clearing tables, and providing a dining room, furniture, crockery and toilets.

Catering is the same idea off your premises, such as a wedding or corporate event. Preparing and delivering food without any service isn't catering.

Drinks: the 23% exceptions

Even inside a restaurant service, Revenue says alcohol, bottled waters, soft drinks, sports drinks and vegetable juices are at the 23% standard rate. Two details catch people out:

• Fruit juice is 9% as part of a restaurant service but 23% as takeaway.
• Bottled water is 23% in every setting, eaten in or taken away.

Hot tea and coffee are 9% whether the customer sits in or takes it away.

Takeaway: goods, not a service

Takeaway food and drink is generally a supply of goods, not a restaurant service. Revenue lists the signs: no waiters, no table service, no real advice, no enclosed space at a suitable temperature to eat in, no cloakrooms or toilets, no crockery or place settings. A counter where a few customers can eat on the spot with negligible service doesn't change that.

From 1 July 2026:

• Hot takeaway food is 9%, including food heated, kept heated or still warm when sold. Hot sandwiches include toasted bread, paninis and wraps, and cold bread with a hot filling.
• Cold takeaway food is 0%, including chilled, cold or frozen cooked meals and cold sandwiches.
• Cold food sold with hot food for one price, such as coleslaw with hot chicken, is 9%.
• Soft drinks, bottled water, juices and alcohol are 23%.

Revenue's summary table for rates from 1 July 2026 shows a few more takeaway differences that matter in cafés:

Meal deals and mixed bills

A combination meal deal, such as hot food and a soft drink for one price, mixes rates. Revenue says the discount should be apportioned between the items at their own rates, and points to its guidance on mixed supplies.

A dinner dance has its own rule: where admission includes dinner, the whole admission charge is 23%. If dinner is charged separately and isn't a condition of getting into the dance, the dinner is taxed at the food rates and the dance admission at 23%.

Staff meals, where they're taxable, follow the catering rate of 9%.

Accommodation and room hire

Guest and holiday accommodation is at 13.5%, whatever the length of stay. Where a room and breakfast are sold for one price, Revenue says the price must be split on a fair and reasonable basis, using what each part sells for separately, with breakfast at 9% and the room at 13.5%.

Room hire in a hotel or guesthouse (a function room, a meeting room) has been at 23% since 1 January 2026. Before that it was taxed at the reduced rate as a letting of a room in a hotel.

Worked examples

All prices below are illustrative examples, VAT inclusive. To find the VAT in a VAT-inclusive price, divide by 1.09, 1.135 or 1.23 to get the net figure, and subtract.

Example 1: a restaurant bill for two

Drinks are 44% of this bill but carry 64% of the VAT. That's why GP on drinks needs working out net of 23%, not 9%.

Example 2: a café counter

The same sandwich carries different VAT depending on where it's eaten, so the till has to ask "eat in or take away?" for real.

Example 3: a takeaway meal deal

A burger and chips normally sells at €11.00 (9%) and a soft drink at €2.50 (23%), €13.50 in total. As a deal it's €12.00. Splitting the deal price in proportion to the normal prices:

• Food: €12.00 × 11.00 ÷ 13.50 = €9.78, VAT at 9% = €0.81
• Drink: €12.00 × 2.50 ÷ 13.50 = €2.22, VAT at 23% = €0.42

Total VAT on the deal: €1.23. Treating the whole €12.00 as 9% would under-declare it.

Example 4: a pub lunch

A pint at €6.20 carries €1.16 of VAT at 23%. A toasted sandwich eaten at the bar for €7.50 carries €0.62 at 9%.

Example 5: a hotel room with breakfast

A hotel sells a room with breakfast for €170. Breakfast on its own sells at €16.

• Breakfast: €16.00 at 9% = €1.32 VAT
• Room: €154.00 at 13.5% = €18.32 VAT

Total VAT: €19.64. Charging all €170 at 13.5% would overpay; charging it all at 9% would underpay.

Getting the till right

• Set up separate buttons for eat-in and takeaway versions of items whose rate changes.
• Put delivery charges on their own 23% line.
• Build meal deals so the till splits the price between rates rather than posting it all at 9%.
• Check old price lists: anything costed before 1 July 2026 assumed 13.5% on food.

VAT applies once you're registered. You must register within 30 days of the transaction that takes your turnover over the threshold, and a new business can register before trading to reclaim VAT on start-up costs.

Where ShiftComplete fits

ShiftComplete doesn't run your till or file VAT returns. It's the operations side of the business: rosters built from staff availability and published to every phone, clocking in and out with downloadable hours, temperature logs, checklists, allergens and incident records, for €1.99 per active staff member per month, free for 60 days with no card and no contract. If drinks margins are your next question, see GP on drinks.