Irish VAT Calculator

Budget 2026 (announced 7 October 2025) confirmed several Irish VAT rate changes:

• Hospitality & hairdressing — 13.5% → 9% from 1 July 2026. Applies to food and drink supplied as part of restaurant, catering, or hot takeaway services, and to hairdressing services. Alcohol, soft drinks, and bottled water supplied with meals stay at 23%.
• Hotel accommodation stays at 13.5% — the 9% cut does NOT extend to hotels, short-term rentals, or tourist attractions this time (unlike previous cycles).
• Completed apartments — 9% from 8 October 2025 until 31 December 2030. Applies to apartments in multi-story blocks of 3+ units with common access, used for residential purposes.
• Gas and electricity — 9% extended until 31 December 2030.

The earlier reduction of heat pump installation from 23% to 9% (from 1 January 2025) remains in place.

Although both result in no VAT being charged to the customer, the treatment of input VAT differs significantly:

• Zero-rated supplies (e.g. most food, books, children's clothing, exports): within the VAT system, taxable at 0%. Suppliers can reclaim input VAT on related business expenses. Counts towards the EUR 85,000 / EUR 42,500 registration thresholds.
• Exempt supplies (e.g. financial services, insurance, education, medical services, residential rent): outside the VAT system. Suppliers cannot reclaim input VAT on related expenses, so VAT becomes a real business cost.

Businesses making both taxable and exempt supplies are subject to partial exemption rules — they can only reclaim input VAT to the extent it relates to taxable supplies. Special apportionment methods apply.

Zero-rated supplies attract 0% VAT but remain within the VAT system, so suppliers can reclaim input VAT on related costs. Major categories include:

• Most food sold in shops — tea, coffee, milk, bread, butter, cheese, vegetables, meat (NOT food from vending machines, restaurants or catering)
• Children's clothing and footwear (under specific size limits)
• Oral medicines for human consumption
• Certain books, e-books and audiobooks (zero rate extended to e-books from 1 January 2024)
• Newspapers and e-newspapers
• Exports outside the EU
• Intra-EU B2B supplies (where the customer has a valid EU VAT number)
• Solar panel installation on private homes

Exempt supplies are outside the VAT system. No VAT is charged and most suppliers cannot reclaim input VAT. Major categories:

• Most financial services — loans, deposits, securities trading, fund management
• Insurance and reinsurance
• Education from approved schools, universities and qualifying training providers
• Medical services by registered medical practitioners, dentists, opticians, nurses
• Residential rent and certain land transactions
• Postal services by An Post
• Betting, gambling and lotteries
• Cultural services by certain not-for-profit organisations

Businesses making both exempt and taxable supplies apportion input VAT under Revenue's partial exemption rules.

The VAT3 is Ireland's main VAT return form. It captures the headline boxes:

• T1 — total output VAT (VAT on sales, plus VAT due on purchases from abroad under reverse charge or postponed import accounting)
• T2 — total input VAT (VAT reclaimable on business expenses)
• T3 — net VAT payable (when T1 > T2)
• T4 — net VAT repayable (when T2 > T1)

Additional boxes (E1, E2, ES1, ES2) capture intra-EU goods and services flows, which feed into the separate VIES return. Box PA1 handles postponed accounting for imports — a cash-flow tool letting you account for import VAT on the return rather than paying it at the border.

The default filing cycle is bi-monthly (every two months) — Jan-Feb, Mar-Apr, May-Jun, Jul-Aug, Sep-Oct, Nov-Dec. Revenue may assign a different cycle based on your annual VAT liability:

• Bi-monthly (default): most VAT-registered businesses
• Quarterly: annual liability EUR 3,001 – 14,400
• Bi-annual (half-yearly): annual liability EUR 0 – 3,000
• Annual: businesses paying by monthly direct debit (election required)
• Monthly: repayment traders (regular refunds) or by election

Returns and payments are due by the 23rd of the month following the period for ROS filers (the 19th for paper filers, although ROS is now mandatory for most businesses).

For most businesses on the standard bi-monthly cycle, returns and payments via ROS are due by the 23rd of the month after each period ends. The standard cycle:

• Jan – Feb return due 23 March
• Mar – Apr return due 23 May
• May – Jun return due 23 July
• Jul – Aug return due 23 September
• Sep – Oct return due 23 November
• Nov – Dec return due 23 January

Paper filers must file by the 19th of the same month, but Revenue mandates ROS for most businesses, so the 23rd deadline applies in practice. Annual Return of Trading Details (RTD) is also required and is filed by the 23rd of the month following the annual VAT period.

VAT-registered businesses must retain all records that support their VAT returns for at least 6 years from the end of the VAT period they relate to. Records include:

• Sales invoices and credit notes
• Purchase invoices supporting input VAT claims
• Bank statements, ledgers, cash books
• VAT3 returns and Annual Return of Trading Details (RTDs)
• Import and export documentation
• Contracts and supporting correspondence

Records may be kept digitally but must remain legible and accessible for Revenue Compliance Interventions. From 1 November 2028, mandatory B2B e-invoicing begins a phased rollout, with full implementation aligned to EU ViDA cross-border rules by 1 July 2030.

Revenue Online Service (ROS) is Revenue's secure online platform for tax compliance — VAT3 returns, payments, RTD filing, registration changes, and viewing tax balances. It is mandatory for most VAT-registered businesses; only certain very small businesses or those with specific exemptions may file on paper.

ROS deadlines are 4 extra days beyond the paper deadline — the 23rd of the month rather than the 19th — making electronic filing both compulsory and slightly more generous on timing. Returns can be saved as drafts before submission, and payments can be scheduled by direct debit or made manually on the day. Failure to file via ROS when required can attract penalties separate from the standard late-filing rules.

Revenue applies several distinct penalties for VAT non-compliance:

• Fixed penalty — EUR 4,000 for failure to register, file a return, issue valid invoices, or keep proper records
• Backdated VAT — Revenue can assess the full VAT that should have been collected from the date you were required to register, even if you didn't charge VAT to customers
• Late payment interest at 0.0274% per day (approximately 10% per annum) on unpaid VAT, calculated daily from the due date
• Tax-geared penalties for under-declaration, ranging from 3% to 100% of the VAT depending on behaviour (careless vs deliberate) and disclosure quality

Voluntary disclosure before Revenue contact can significantly reduce tax-geared penalties (the "qualifying disclosure" regime).

The Flat-Rate Farmer Scheme compensates unregistered farmers for VAT incurred on their costs without requiring them to register or file VAT returns. The mechanic is simple:

• Unregistered farmers add a flat-rate addition to invoices issued to VAT-registered customers (e.g. meat processors, dairies)
• The flat rate is 4.5% from 1 January 2026, reduced in Budget 2026 from the 5.1% that applied in 2025
• The customer reclaims the flat-rate addition through their VAT3
• The farmer keeps the flat-rate compensation as cover for VAT paid on inputs

Farmers must provide a signed declaration to each customer confirming their flat-rate status. Flat-rate farmers can also use form VAT58 to reclaim VAT on certain capital investments such as farm buildings, land drainage and micro-generation equipment.

The cash receipts basis (also known as moneys-received basis) is an alternative to the default invoice basis. Under cash receipts:

• You account for output VAT when you actually receive payment from customers — not when the invoice is issued
• This delivers a clear cash-flow benefit: VAT isn't payable to Revenue until you've been paid
• Bad debt relief is automatic — if a customer never pays, you never account for the VAT

Eligibility (one of):

• Annual turnover does not exceed EUR 2 million, or
• At least 90% of turnover comes from supplies to unregistered persons (typically retail / B2C)

You must apply to Revenue for approval. Input VAT is still recovered on invoice basis (when the invoice is received).

Yes. Several distinct regimes apply depending on the type of supply and customer:

• Digital services to consumers in Ireland: non-EU providers must register for Irish VAT (or use Import OSS) and charge 23% on streaming, software, e-books, online courses, etc.
• EU distance sales of goods: cross-border B2C sales above EUR 10,000 annually trigger VAT registration in the customer's country (or use of the One Stop Shop / OSS scheme)
• Goods imported from outside the EU under EUR 150: covered by the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS), simplifying VAT collection at the point of sale
• Online marketplaces (Amazon, eBay) are deemed to be the supplier in many B2C scenarios under the 2021 EU e-commerce reforms

The EU SME Scheme (from 1 Jan 2025) lets small Irish businesses with cross-border turnover under EUR 100,000 trade across the EU under their Irish VAT number without registering abroad.