At first glance, VAT in Europe looks like a simple lookup: find the country, apply its standard rate, done. In practice, each of the 27 EU member states sets its own standard, reduced, super-reduced and parking rates within a common EU framework — and 2026 has already brought a wave of changes, from Belgium’s hospitality rate to a new single rate in Czechia. Getting the rate wrong is not a paperwork detail: it means a tax reassessment, an unrecoverable VAT cost for your customer, or both.
This is exactly why the question “which VAT rate applies?” cannot be answered by the country alone. In other words, the country on your invoice is only the starting point, not the whole answer: it also depends on who your customer is (a business or a private consumer), what you are selling, and, increasingly, for companies trading beyond their home market, where your own business is established. A German SaaS company invoicing consumers in Italy and Portugal, and a UK-based retailer shipping from a Dutch warehouse to buyers across the EU, are subject to genuinely different rules, even though both are “selling into Europe.” The sections below walk through the 2026 rates, what changed this year, and how to determine the right rate for your own transactions.
What are the VAT rates applicable in Europe in 2026?
Under the EU VAT Directive, all 27 member states must apply a standard rate of at least 15%. On top of that floor, each country can set:
- A standard rate, ranging from 17% (Luxembourg) to 27% (Hungary) across the EU.
- One or two reduced rates, generally no lower than 5%, applied to a defined list of goods and services (food, books, passenger transport, energy, etc.).
- In some countries, a super-reduced rate (below 5%) or a parking rate (a transitional rate above 5% kept for items no longer eligible for a “normal” reduced rate), reserved for specific, pre-existing cases.
- For a short list of essential goods and services, a zero rate may apply.
This flexibility is bounded by Council Directive (EU) 2022/542 of 5 April 2022, which reformed the rules on reduced VAT rates: it caps reduced rates at two per country (above 5%), limits eligibility for rates below 5% to seven specific categories, and restricts the 0% rate to seven categories defined in Directive 2006/112/EC. Member states had until 31 December 2025 to bring their national legislation into line, which is part of why so many rates moved in the last twelve months.
VAT rates by country (EU-27, as of mid-2026)
| Country | Code | Standard | Reduced 1 | Reduced 2 | Super-reduced | Parking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | AT | 20% | 10% | 13,0% | — | 13% |
| Belgium | BE | 21% | 6% | 12,0% | — | 12% |
| Bulgaria | BG | 20% | 9% | — | — | — |
| Croatia | HR | 25% | 5% | 13,0% | — | — |
| Cyprus | CY | 19% | 5% | 9,0% | — | — |
| Czechia | CZ | 21% | 12% | — | — | — |
| Denmark | DK | 25% | — | — | — | — |
| Estonia | EE | 24% | 9% | 13% | — | — |
| Finland | FI | 25.5% | 10% | 13.5% | — | — |
| France | FR | 20% | 5.5% | 10,0% | 2.1% | — |
| Germany | DE | 19,00% | 7% | — | — | — |
| Greece | EL | 24% | 6,00% | 13,0% | — | — |
| Hungary | HU | 27% | 5% | 18,0% | — | — |
| Ireland | IE | 23% | 9% | 13.5% | 4.8% | 13.5% |
| Italy | IT | 22% | 10% | 5,0% | 4,00% | — |
| Latvia | LV | 21% | 12% | — | 5% | — |
| Lithuania | LT | 21% | 9% | 12% | 5% | — |
| Luxembourg | LU | 17% | 8% | 14,0% | 3% | 14% |
| Malta | MT | 18% | 5% | 7,0% | — | — |
| Netherlands | NL | 21% | 9% | — | — | — |
| Poland | PL | 23% | 5% | 8,0% | — | — |
| Portugal | PT | 23% | 6% | 13,0% | — | 13% |
| Romania | RO | 21% | 11% | — | — | — |
| Slovakia | SK | 23% | 19% | — | 5% | — |
| Slovenia | SI | 22% | 5% | 9.5% | — | — |
| Spain | ES | 21% | 10% | — | 4% | — |
| Sweden | SE | 25% | 6% | 12,0% | — | — |
Beyond the EU: United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and Switzerland
Easytax’s clients often trade with or from countries just outside the EU VAT area. Their rates:
| Pays | Code | Standard rate (%) | Reduced rate (%) | Parking rate (%) | Zero rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | GB | 20% | 5% | Yes | |
| Northern Ireland | GB-NIR | 20% | 5% | Yes | |
| Switzerland | CH | 8.1% | 2.6% | 3.8% | Yes |
(It’s worth noting that Northern Ireland follows UK VAT rates but continues to apply EU VAT rules to goods, under the Windsor Framework, the post-Brexit arrangement that keeps Northern Ireland aligned with EU customs and VAT rules for goods trade.)
VAT rate changes in Europe in 2026
- Belgium (1 March 2026): the reduced rate for hotels, takeaway meals and leisure activities rose from 6% to 12%.
- Czechia (1 January 2026): restaurant and non-alcoholic beverage services moved to a single 12% rate; prescription medicines dropped to 0%.
- Germany (1 January 2026): the reduced 7% rate was reinstated for restaurant and catering services.
- Ireland (1 July 2026): a 9% reduced rate now applies to food and restaurant services.
- Slovakia (1 January 2026): the rate on high-sugar and high-salt products rose from 19% to 23%.
- Netherlands (1 January 2026): accommodation moved from the 9% reduced rate to the 21% standard rate.
- Lithuania (1 January 2026): the reduced rate for accommodation, regular transport and cultural events rose from 9% to 12%; printed and electronic books moved to 5% (from 9%).
- Finland: the reduced rate applicable to certain goods and services fell from 14% to 13.5%.
- Austria (1 July 2026): a new 4.9% rate applies to a specific list of basic food items (down from 10%).
- Estonia: the standard rate now stands at 24% (up from 22%), as reflected in the table above — worth double-checking the exact effective date with a local advisor if it affects a specific transaction.
The result? A rate you applied correctly on your invoices in January can be wrong again by December, without you having changed a single price. Rates on hospitality and food in particular have moved in five countries this year alone, a category worth rechecking even if your own pricing hasn’t budged.
How do you know which VAT rate to apply?
Three questions determine the answer, in this order.
1. Where is the transaction taxed?
- Supply of goods: as a rule, VAT is due in the country where the goods end up (the country of arrival), not where the seller is established — this is also what governs intra-EU movements of goods between businesses.
- Supply of services: it depends on the customer.
- B2B (business-to-business): VAT is generally due in the customer’s country, under the reverse-charge mechanism, the customer self-assesses the VAT rather than you charging it on the invoice.
- B2C (business-to-consumer): VAT is due in the consumer’s country of residence.
2. Is your customer a business or a private consumer?
| Customer type | Where VAT applies | Practical consequence | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
B2B |
Customer’s country |
Invoice without VAT (reverse charge); the customer declares it locally |
||
|
B2C |
Customer’s country |
Charge the customer’s local VAT rate on the invoice and remit it |
||
The One-Stop Shop (OSS) and Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) schemes exist precisely to simplify this for B2C sellers, letting them declare VAT due in multiple EU countries through a single return instead of registering everywhere.
A distance-selling threshold applies specifically to businesses established in the EU: intra-EU B2C sales of goods and cross-border digital services stay taxable in the seller’s home country up to a combined €10,000 (net) per year across all other EU member states. Beyond that threshold, VAT is due in each customer’s country — normally reported through the OSS rather than via separate local registrations.
This threshold does not apply to businesses established outside the EU. A company based in the UK, Switzerland or elsewhere selling B2C into the EU generally cannot rely on any home-market allowance: it typically needs to charge and account for local VAT from the first sale, either through the non-Union OSS scheme (for services), the IOSS (for imported goods valued at €150 or less), or standard VAT registration, often via a fiscal representative where the destination country requires one. This is a frequent blind spot for non-EU businesses expanding into Europe, and worth checking before the first invoice goes out, not after.
3. What type of product or service is involved?
Even within a single country, the rate can vary by category: food, books, energy, pharmaceuticals, restaurant services, accommodation and passenger transport are the categories most commonly eligible for a reduced rate, but the list, and the exact rate, differs from one member state to the next. There is no EU-wide shortcut here: it has to be checked country by country and category by category.
What are the risks of applying the wrong VAT rate?
- Rate applied too low: the shortfall, plus penalties and late-payment interest, is generally recoverable by the tax authority from the seller, sometimes years after the sale, once margins have already been spent.
- Rate applied too high: the customer overpays, cannot always recover the excess, and the seller risks disputes, contract issues or plain reputational damage, particularly awkward in a B2B relationship where the customer expected a clean reverse-charge invoice.
As a result, both scenarios are more common than they should be, especially for companies selling into several EU countries at once through marketplaces or online stores, where a single misconfigured tax setting can misapply the wrong rate across your entire product catalogue for months before anyone notices.
What to remember about VAT rates in Europe
VAT rates in Europe are coordinated at EU level but set country by country, and 2026 has shown how quickly they can move — Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Austria have all changed at least one rate this year. Getting the right rate depends on three factors together: where the transaction is taxed, whether the customer is a business or a consumer, and what is being sold — with an extra layer of complexity for businesses established outside the EU, who don’t benefit from the intra-EU distance-selling threshold.
Given how often local rates and thresholds change, it’s worth having your VAT setup reviewed periodically rather than assuming last year’s configuration still holds.
Rely on Easytax's experts to check your VAT registration obligations, manage your VAT returns across Europe, and confirm whether the OSS/IOSS schemes would simplify your reporting.
Contact usFAQ : VAT rates across Europe
Luxembourg, at 17%.
Hungary, at 27%.
No. Denmark applies a single standard rate of 25%, with no reduced rate.
Yes, but only for a limited list of essential goods and services, and only in the countries that choose to apply it. The UK and Switzerland both retain zero-rating for certain categories, for example.
Only if your business is established within the EU. Non-EU businesses selling B2C into the EU should assume VAT is due from the first sale and check registration requirements country by country — an easytax.co VAT compliance check is a fast way to confirm where you stand.
