Here is the number you need to understand before anything else: EU tax authorities issued over €20 billion in VAT-related penalties and corrections across the bloc in 2023. The majority of errors were not fraud — they were incorrect rate applications. A business charged 21% on a supply that qualified for a 9% reduced rate, or forgot that Finland raised its standard rate. The corrected invoices, interest charges, and time spent with accountants cost far more than the original tax difference.
Getting the rate right the first time is not a compliance exercise. It is a financial decision.
Complete VAT Rate Table: All 27 EU Countries (2026)
The table below shows the current standard rate, the primary reduced rate(s), and any super-reduced or zero rates applicable in each member state. Where a country made a notable change in 2024 or 2025, this is flagged.
| Country | Standard Rate | Reduced Rate(s) | Super-Reduced / Zero | 2024–26 Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 20% | 13%, 10% | — | None |
| Belgium | 21% | 12%, 6% | — | None |
| Bulgaria | 20% | 9% | — | None |
| Croatia | 25% | 13%, 5% | — | None |
| Cyprus | 19% | 9%, 5% | — | None |
| Czech Republic | 21% | 12% | — | None |
| Denmark | 25% | — | — | None |
| Estonia | 22% | 9% | — | Raised from 20% in 2024 |
| Finland | 25.5% | 14%, 10% | — | Raised from 24% in Sept 2024 |
| France | 20% | 10%, 5.5% | 2.1% | None |
| Germany | 19% | 7% | — | None |
| Greece | 24% | 13%, 6% | — | None |
| Hungary | 27% | 18%, 5% | — | None |
| Ireland | 23% | 13.5%, 9% | 4.8%, 0% | None |
| Italy | 22% | 10%, 5% | 4% | None |
| Latvia | 21% | 12%, 5% | — | None |
| Lithuania | 21% | 9%, 5% | — | None |
| Luxembourg | 17% | 8%, 3% | — | None |
| Malta | 18% | 7%, 5% | — | None |
| Netherlands | 21% | 9% | — | None |
| Poland | 23% | 8%, 5% | — | None |
| Portugal | 23% | 13%, 6% | — | None |
| Romania | 19% | 9%, 5% | — | None |
| Slovakia | 20% | 10% | — | None |
| Slovenia | 22% | 9.5%, 5% | — | None |
| Spain | 21% | 10% | 4% | None |
| Sweden | 25% | 12%, 6% | — | None |
Denmark is notable for having no reduced rate at all — 25% applies to virtually everything. At the other extreme, France maintains a super-reduced rate of 2.1% on certain medicines reimbursed by social security.
What Reduced VAT Rates Apply To
Reduced rates are not arbitrary. EU law (the VAT Directive, Annex III) restricts what categories member states can apply them to. The most common qualifying categories are:
Food and non-alcoholic drinks. Most countries apply a reduced rate to basic foodstuffs. Germany charges 7% on groceries sold in supermarkets but 19% on restaurant meals (with some exceptions for takeaway cold food). France applies 5.5% to food products but 10% to restaurant services.
Books, newspapers, and periodicals. Including digital editions since 2015. The standard reduced rate across most member states is 5–10% for printed and electronic books.
Prescription medicines and medical devices. Almost universally reduced or zero-rated. Ireland zero-rates most oral medicines. Italy applies 4% to certain medical equipment.
Accommodation. Hotel stays and short-term rentals typically attract reduced rates — 9% in the Netherlands, 10% in Austria, 13.5% in Ireland. This directly affects Airbnb hosts and hotel operators.
Passenger transport. Domestic rail, bus, and sometimes air travel qualify for reduced rates in many member states.
The practical consequence: if you are invoicing for services that might fall into a reduced category — a digital education platform, a newspaper subscription service, a medical app — do not default to the standard rate without checking. The saving for your customer (and the compliance cost if you get it wrong) can be significant.
Zero Rates: When VAT Is Charged at 0%
Zero rating is not the same as exemption. A zero-rated supply is still a taxable supply — you report it, you can reclaim input VAT on related costs, but you charge the customer nothing in VAT.
The main zero-rated categories across the EU are:
Exports outside the EU. Goods and services supplied to customers outside the EU are generally zero-rated. You must retain evidence of export (shipping documents, proof of delivery to a non-EU address).
Intra-EU B2B supplies. When you supply goods or services to a VAT-registered business in another EU member state, the transaction is zero-rated in your hands. The customer accounts for VAT in their own country under the reverse charge mechanism. You must verify the customer's VAT number using the VIES system before applying zero rate.
Certain domestic categories. Ireland and the UK (pre-Brexit) have historically zero-rated domestic food and children's clothing. Some EU member states apply zero rates to specific books or medicines.
The Destination Principle for Digital Services
If you sell digital services — software licences, online courses, streaming content, e-books, website hosting — to consumers (non-business customers) in EU countries other than your own, you do not charge your domestic VAT rate. You charge the VAT rate of the country where your customer is based.
This is the destination principle, and it applies to every EU seller of digital services regardless of their size, from a solo developer selling a plugin to a large SaaS company.
The One Stop Shop (OSS) scheme was introduced in July 2021 to simplify compliance. Instead of registering for VAT in every EU country where you have customers, you register for OSS in your home country and file a single quarterly return covering all your EU consumer sales. Each country's VAT is then remitted via that single return.
The annual threshold below which domestic rules apply: €10,000 in total cross-border B2C sales within the EU. Below this, you can charge your own country's rate. Above it, destination-country rates apply and OSS registration becomes the practical solution.
Recent VAT Rate Changes (2024–2026)
Estonia raised its standard VAT rate from 20% to 22% in January 2024. A further increase to 24% is planned for 2025. Businesses operating in or selling to Estonia need to update their rate configurations.
Finland raised its standard rate from 24% to 25.5% in September 2024 — a mid-year change that caught some businesses off-guard. Any contract or recurring billing set up before September 2024 using the 24% rate became incorrect from that date.
No other standard rate changes are confirmed for 2026 across the remaining 25 member states, but reduced rate adjustments for specific sectors (energy, hospitality, housing) are periodically announced at short notice.
The practical takeaway: do not hardcode VAT rates into your systems without a review mechanism. Subscribe to your national tax authority's updates, or use a tool that maintains current rates automatically.
Use the VAT Calculator
Rather than looking up rates manually every time you invoice, use our VAT Calculator to calculate the exact VAT amount for any EU country in seconds. Enter the net amount, select the country, and the calculator applies the correct current standard rate — with reduced rate options where applicable.