Germany permanently cuts VAT on restaurant and catering food to 7% from 1 January 2026
This page records one dated change. For the rules in Germany as they stand today, see the Germany guide →
- Jurisdiction
- Germany
- Tax
- VAT
- Change type
- Rate change
- Status
- In force
- Impact
- Action required
- Announced
- 23 December 2025
- Effective
- 1 January 2026
- Instrument
- DE-ACT-BGBl-I-2025-Nr-363
- Authority
- Deutscher Bundestag
- Verified
- Fetched from official source · high confidence
Restaurants, cafés, canteens, caterers and other businesses in Germany supplying restaurant and catering services; beverages stay at 19%.
Businesses supplying food (not beverages) in restaurants and catering services should apply 7% VAT from 1 January 2026. The rate is permanent (not time-limited). Update POS systems, price lists, and accounting accordingly.
The Steueränderungsgesetz 2025 of 22 December 2025 (BGBl. I 2025 Nr. 363, published 23 December 2025) replaced § 12 Abs. 2 Nr. 15 UStG. Restaurant and catering services (excluding beverages) supplied after 31 December 2025 are permanently subject to the 7% reduced rate instead of 19%.
What changed in detail
The Steueränderungsgesetz 2025 of 22 December 2025 was published in the Federal Law Gazette on 23 December 2025 (BGBl. I 2025 Nr. 363). It started as the federal government’s bill, Bundestag-Drucksache 21/1974.
Article 4 of the bill replaces § 12 Abs. 2 Nr. 15 UStG with a new Nummer 15 that lists, among the supplies taxed at the 7% reduced rate, “die Restaurant- und Verpflegungsdienstleistungen, mit Ausnahme der Abgabe von Getränken”. Unlike the 2020–2023 crisis measure, the new provision carries no end date. The consolidated § 12 UStG on gesetze-im-internet.de now reads that way.
The reduced rate applies to restaurant and catering services supplied after 31 December 2025, so in force from 1 January 2026. Beverages are excluded and remain at the 19% standard rate.
The explanatory memorandum gives two reasons: economic support for the hospitality sector, and an end to the line-drawing between food delivered or taken away (already at 7%) and the same food served with a service element, for example in catering, school and nursery meals or hospital catering.
What it means
This is the current German position and is still in force. Germany has no later amendment to § 12 Abs. 2 Nr. 15: the consolidated UStG, last amended on 29 June 2026, carries the wording above, and the Jahressteuergesetz 2026 bill does not touch it.
It ends the 19% interlude of 2024 and 2025. The rate depends on when the meal was served: 19% for 2024–2025 supplies, 7% from 1 January 2026. The split that still needs care is inside one bill: food at 7%, drinks at 19%, so a combined menu price has to be divided between the two rates.
Proof
Die Umsatzsteuer für Speisen in der Gastronomie wird ab dem 1. Januar 2026 dauerhaft auf sieben Prozent reduziert.VAT on food in the hospitality sector will be permanently reduced to seven percent from 1 January 2026.
Source snapshot of the official page. Open full size ↗Archived from the official distribution · BT-Drucksache 21/1974, Gesetzentwurf der Bundesregierung, Entwurf eines Steueränderungsgesetzes 2025, Vorblatt B. Lösung · dserver.bundestag.de
die Restaurant- und Verpflegungsdienstleistungen, mit Ausnahme der Abgabe von Getränken.(The tax is reduced to seven percent for the following supplies: … 15.) restaurant and catering services, excluding the supply of beverages.
Source snapshot of the official page. Open full size ↗