What changed on 1 July 2026
Three things moved from the reduced rate to the second reduced rate on 1 July 2026: catering and restaurant supplies, hot takeaway food and hot drinks, and hairdressing. Nothing else moved with them, and the exclusions inside those categories did not move at all — which is where the mistakes are.
On 1 July 2026 three categories of supply moved from Ireland’s reduced rate of 13.5% to its second reduced rate of 9%. That is the whole change. No percentage was altered — both rates existed at those figures before and after — and nothing else moved with them.
It matters more than a rate change would, because it means two invoices for the same thing, dated a day apart, are both correct at different rates. If you are reconciling a June bill against a July one, or checking whether a supplier has charged you properly, the date is the first thing to look at.
What moved
| Supply | Before | From 1 July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Catering and restaurant supplies, excluding alcohol, soft drinks and bottled water | 13.5% | 9% |
| Hot take-away food, and hot tea and coffee | 13.5% | 9% |
| Hairdressing services | 13.5% | 9% |
The exclusions did not move, and that is where the errors are
Read the first row again, all the way to the end. Catering and restaurant supplies moved, excluding alcohol, soft drinks and bottled water. Those exclusions were part of the category before the move and they are part of it after. A restaurant bill is therefore not a single-rate document: the food is at 9% and the wine is at the standard rate, on the same bill, as it was before July 2026.
The same trap is in the second row. Hot takeaway food and hot tea and coffee. A cold sandwich is a different supply from a hot one, and most cold food is zero-rated rather than reduced at all — so a deli counter can produce three different VAT treatments across three items in one transaction.
Anyone applying a single rate to a whole hospitality till total is producing a wrong number. That was true before this change and the change has not made it less true; it has simply given everyone a reason to re-examine their rates and get it wrong in a new way.
What it does to a bill
| Period | Rate | VAT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 September 2023 – 30 June 2026 | 13.5% | €13.50 | €113.50 |
| From 1 July 2026 | 9% | €9.00 | €109.00 |
€4.50 on a hundred euro of food, if the whole reduction reaches the customer. Whether it does is a commercial question and this site has no view on it.
Which invoice date decides the rate
Revenue’s position on a rate change is stated in general terms and it is not “the date the food was eaten”. Where a VAT invoice is issued, the rate is the one in force when the invoice was issued. Where the supply is to an unregistered person — an ordinary customer — the rate is the one in force at the time of the supply. A business accounting on the moneys-received basis also applies the rate in force at the time of supply.
Source: Revenue — What happens when the VAT rate changes? (published 21 May 2026).
The statute, and one thing worth knowing about it
The change was made by section 71 of the Finance Act 2025, which substitutes a whole paragraph of section 46(1) of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 with effect from 1 July 2026. The substituted paragraph charges 9% on goods or services of a kind specified in named paragraphs of Schedule 3.
Worth knowing: the Law Reform Commission’s consolidated version of the 2010 Act — the text most people would reach for, and the one this site uses for every other VAT figure — is updated only to 1 January 2026 and therefore does not contain this change. Reading the consolidation alone would tell you these supplies are still at 13.5%. This site cites the section as enacted for exactly that reason.
Source: Finance Act 2025 (No. 18 of 2025), s. 71 — “Section 46(1) of the Principal Act is amended, with effect from 1 July 2026, by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (cb)”.