VAT 2025: how rates change in Europe

VAT rates in 2025

Starting from 1 January 2025, several European countries have made changes to their VAT rates:

• Slovakia: the standard rate has increased from 20% to 23%. The reduced rate of 10% has been replaced by a new rate of 19%, while the super-reduced rate of 5% has been extended to new products, including basic foods, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, books and printed materials;
• Finland: the standard rate has been increased by 1.5% to 25.5%. At the same time, the reduced rate has increased from 10% to 14%, affecting goods and services such as paper and digital books, medicines and cinema, exhibition and museum tickets. From 1 June 2025, VAT on sweets and chocolate will increase from 14% to 25.5%;
• Estonia: the standard rate is set to increase from 22% to 24% from 1 July 2025;
• Spain: temporary reductions in VAT on food and energy, introduced to mitigate inflation, will end in 2025. VAT on basic foods such as bread and vegetables will return to 4%, while VAT on pasta and seed oils will rise to 10%. VAT on electricity will return to 21%;
• Netherlands: the government has announced plans to increase VAT on food from 9% to 21% in the coming years, but it is not yet confirmed whether the change will happen as early as 2025;