Work out Irish VAT, and see the working
Type a price, pick a rate, and get the VAT with every step written out — what was multiplied by what, how the answer was rounded, and which section of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 the rate comes from. It works in both directions: add VAT to a price, or pull the VAT back out of one that already includes it.
Your figures
The price before VAT is added.
VAT at 23%
€23.00
- Before VAT
- €100.00
- Including VAT
- €123.00
The working
- Price before VATthe amount you entered€100.00
- VAT€100.00 × 23%€23.00
- Price including VAT€100.00 + €23.00€123.00
- Rounded to 2 decimal places, half up. Ireland does not publish a rounding rule for VAT that we were able to find, so this is our stated convention rather than a rule — it can differ from an invoice by at most one cent.
The five Irish VAT rates
Every rate below is read from this site’s own rate data, which is the same data the calculator above uses — so the table and the tool cannot disagree. Each rate links to a page setting out what sits at it and the provision that puts it there.
| Rate | Name | In force since | Supplies listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23% | Standard rate | from 1 March 2021 | 6 |
| 13.5% | Reduced rate | from 1 January 2003 | 16 |
| 9% | Second reduced rate | from 1 July 2011 | 8 |
| 4.8% | Livestock rate | from 1 January 2005 | 2 |
| 0% | Zero rate | from the introduction of VAT | 10 |
Notice what the third column is doing. The percentages have barely moved in a decade — what moves is the fourth column, the list of supplies that sit at each rate, and that list is rewritten by a Finance Act every year or two. The most recent rewrite took effect on 1 July 2026 and moved three whole trades from one rate to another without changing a single percentage.
A worked example, in full
Take €100.00 before VAT at the standard rate of 23%. The VAT is €23.00 and the price including VAT is €123.00. Going the other way from €123.00, the VAT is not that figure minus a percentage — it is the gross multiplied by the rate over one hundred plus the rate, which returns €100.00 exactly. That identity is the point of the second direction, and it is the calculation people get wrong.
Every one of the twelve worked examples on this site is produced by that same engine at build time, so none of them can drift away from what the tool actually does.
Questions people actually ask
- What is the VAT rate in Ireland?
- Ireland has five VAT rates. The standard rate applies to most goods and services; there are two reduced rates, a livestock rate and a zero rate. The table on this page gives all five with the section of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 that sets each one.
- How do I take VAT out of a price that includes it?
- Not by subtracting the percentage. At the standard rate the VAT in a gross price is 23/123 of it, which is the same as dividing the gross by 1.23 to get the net. Subtracting 23% from the gross gives a smaller, wrong answer.
- Did VAT on restaurants and hairdressing change?
- Yes. Catering and restaurant supplies, hot takeaway food and hot drinks, and hairdressing moved from the reduced rate to the second reduced rate with effect from 1 July 2026, by section 71 of the Finance Act 2025. An invoice from before that date is at the old rate and is not wrong.
- Is this site run by Revenue?
- No. VATMeter is an independent reference site. It is not the Revenue Commissioners and not a government service, and nothing on it is tax advice.
More of them on the FAQ page, and the whole method — including the one rounding decision this site had to make for itself — on the methodology page.
The rest of the site
- Irish VAT ratesEvery Irish VAT rate in one table, what each one applies to, and the section of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 that sets it.
- Reverse VAT calculatorTake Irish VAT back out of a price that already includes it. The fraction, the arithmetic, and why dividing by 1.23 is the same sum.
- Irish VAT registration thresholdsThe turnover figures at which VAT registration becomes obligatory in Ireland, who each one binds, and how turnover is counted.
- Bank holidays in Ireland 2026All ten Irish public holidays in 2026 with their dates and weekdays, plus which statute or instrument creates each one.
- Irish motor tax ratesThe Irish motor tax rate tables for private cars, straight from the Schedule — CO₂ bands for cars registered from 2021, with every band.
- Date difference calculatorDays between two dates, in calendar days and in working days, with Irish public holidays taken out of the working-day count.