Source: https://wpinplate.com/en/vat-for-restaurants-poland/

# Restaurant VAT in Poland: 5%, 8% or 23%? Dine-in, takeaway and delivery

VAT rates in food service are one of the most confusing topics for restaurant owners in Poland. The same dish can have a different rate from the drink served with it, and takeaway sales have been argued over by taxpayers, tax offices and courts.

We explain the rules in force since the VAT rate change in July 2020, the exceptions and the places where mistakes are easy. We rely on the law, tax rulings and industry guides (sources at the end).

> [!WARNING] This is not tax advice
> This article describes the general rules. The rate depends on how a specific dish or drink is classified and how it is sold. Check your rates with your accountant before you set them on the cash register. In disputed cases you can apply for a binding rate ruling (WIS).

> [!TIP] In short
> Food services (PKWiU 56) are taxed at 8% – dine-in, and usually also takeaway and delivery when the venue prepares the dish. The exceptions are taxed at 23%: coffee, tea and drinks containing them, alcohol, carbonated drinks, mineral water and dishes with some seafood. The 5% rate applies to selling ready-made food as goods, without a food service.

## Where the food service rates come from

Since July 1, 2020, Poland has used the so-called VAT rate matrix. For food service the key provision is Article 41(12f) of the VAT Act: the 8% rate covers goods and services classified in PKWiU 56 (the Polish Classification of Products and Services), that is **food and beverage serving services**.

The same provision excludes three groups from 8%:

1. **drinks** other than those listed in Annex 3 or Annex 10 to the Act, also when you prepare and serve them,
2. **goods the venue hasn't processed**, other than those listed in these annexes,
3. **meals containing goods excluded** from certain items of Annex 10. In practice this mainly means some seafood.

The excluded items have their own rate, most often 23%.

## Dine-in

A meal served at the venue is a classic food service: **8%**. It doesn't matter whether the guest eats at a table or at the bar.

## Takeaway

This was disputed for years. In 2021, in judgment C-703/19, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that selling a takeaway dish without supporting services such as tables or waiting staff can be a supply of goods rather than a restaurant service. Ready-made food sold as goods often has the 5% rate.

Since the 2020 change, however, the Polish tax authorities take the view that **a meal prepared by the venue and sold for takeaway is still a PKWiU 56 service, so 8%**. This follows, among others, from binding rate rulings on takeaway sales. Industry guides from 2026 apply the same rule.

**The 5% rate** applies to selling ready-made food as goods, without a food service. If you also sell ready-made products from other producers, such as packaged meals or snacks, their rate depends on how the goods are classified, not on the fact that a venue sells them.

## Delivery

If you deliver with your own courier, the delivery fee the customer pays is usually part of the service and has the same rate as the dish. When you use an outside courier company, its invoice to you is a separate service, usually with 23% VAT.

## Drinks

Drinks are the most common source of mistakes, because many of them are excluded from 8%. According to a 2026 guide by GoPOS (a Polish restaurant POS provider):

| Drink | Rate |
|---|---|
| Coffee, tea and drinks made with them (latte, cappuccino, iced tea) | 23% |
| Alcoholic drinks | 23% |
| Carbonated drinks | 23% |
| Mineral water | 23% |
| Juices and smoothies with at least 20% juice | 8% |
| Milk drinks without coffee (e.g. a milkshake) | 8% |

According to the same guide, coffee is taxed at 23% whether the guest drinks it in or takes it away. On the receipt every item has its own rate: the dish 8%, the coffee 23%.

> [!NOTE] Set meals at one price
> A lunch with coffee or a meal deal with a drink at one price is a common problem. The dish and the drink can have different rates, so you have to decide how to split the price of the set. Do it with your accountant and set it up the same way on the cash register and in your ordering system.

## Seafood

Meals with ingredients excluded from the reduced rates, mainly some seafood, are taxed at 23% in full. This applies to the whole dish, not just that ingredient. If your menu has seafood dishes, check with your accountant which of them the exclusion covers.

## Packaging

A fee for single-use packaging that you charge the customer on takeaway sales is part of the price of the meal. So it has the same VAT rate as the dish.

## A small venue: the VAT exemption

Not every venue has to be an active VAT payer. From January 1, 2026, the threshold for the small business exemption is **PLN 240,000** of sales a year (previously PLN 200,000). A new business counts the threshold in proportion to the part of the year in which it operates.

The VAT exemption doesn't exempt you from a fiscal cash register. These are separate rules, so check your obligation to record sales independently of VAT. Remember too that a business exempt from VAT can't deduct the VAT on invoices, e.g. for equipment, packaging or platform commissions.

## When to apply for a WIS

A binding rate ruling (WIS, *wiążąca informacja stawkowa*) is a decision of the Director of National Revenue Information (KIS) on the classification and rate of a specific product or service. It protects you as long as you follow it. It's worth applying for one when:

- you sell unusual products, e.g. drinks to your own recipe or dishes with seafood,
- it isn't clear whether what you sell is a service or a supply of goods, e.g. ready meals in a fridge that customers take themselves.

The application fee is PLN 40 for each product or service. The authority has 3 months to issue the WIS.

## The most common mistakes

- Coffee rung up at 8%, like a dish.
- Mineral water and carbonated drinks at 8%.
- A set with a drink at one price, without deciding how to split the rates.
- Assuming that a takeaway dish is automatically 5%.
- Different rates on the cash register and in the online ordering system.

## Summary

In food service in Poland the basis is 8% for food services – dine-in, and usually also takeaway and delivery. Watch out for the 23% exceptions: coffee, tea, alcohol, carbonated drinks, mineral water and some seafood. The 5% rate applies to selling ready-made food as goods. Set your rates once, with your accountant, and make sure they are the same on the cash register, on the menu and in your online ordering system.

## Sources

- [GoPOS: VAT rates for food and catering services – a cheat sheet for restaurant owners (April 27, 2026, in Polish)](https://gopos.pl/blog/2026/04/27/stawki-vat-uslugi-gastronomiczne-cateringowe-sciagawka-dla-restauratorow/)
- [Poradnik Przedsiębiorcy: VAT on the sale of meals and dishes (2024, in Polish)](https://poradnikprzedsiebiorcy.pl/-podatek-vat-od-sprzedazy-posilkow-i-dan-w-placowkach-gastronomicznych)
- [Infor.pl: VAT rates in food service – takeaway dishes at 5% or 8% VAT? (June 21, 2021, in Polish)](https://ksiegowosc.infor.pl/podatki/vat/stawki-vat/5280114,Stawki-VAT-w-gastronomii-dania-na-wynos-z-5-czy-8-VAT.html)
- [EUR-Lex: Judgment of the Court of Justice of April 22, 2021, Dobeles HES, C-703/19](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62019CJ0703)
- [OpenLEX: WIS 0111-KDSB1-2.440.53.2022.3.PP – takeaway sales, PKWiU 56, 8% rate (in Polish)](https://sip.lex.pl/orzeczenia-i-pisma-urzedowe/pisma-urzedowe/0111-kdsb1-2-440-53-2022-3-pp-wis-sprzedaz-na-wynos-pkwiu-185193777)
- [Poradnik Przedsiębiorcy: The VAT small business exemption threshold in 2026 (in Polish)](https://poradnikprzedsiebiorcy.pl/-limit-zwolnienia-podmiotowego-w-vat)
- [Infor.pl: How to apply for a binding rate ruling (WIS) (in Polish)](https://ksiegowosc.infor.pl/podatki/vat/stawki-vat/3572758,Procedura-ubiegania-sie-o-wydanie-Wiazacej-Informacji-Stawkowej-WIS.html)