Hospitality VAT in Belgium: 6 %, 12 % or 21 %? (2026 update)

Published on 29/07/2026 · Updated on 28/09/2026 · By Antoine Lemmens, Eazyclick. Rates checked in September 2026 against the Belgian Official Gazette and FPS Finance website. This guide sets out the general rules: confirm how they apply to you with your accountant.

A Belgian restaurant often applies three VAT rates on the same day: 12 % on meals served, 21 % on drinks, 6 % on takeaway food. And since 1 March 2026, hotels, guesthouses and holiday cottages charge 12 % on overnight stays instead of 6 %. This guide reviews the position, source by source.

Which VAT rate applies to restaurants in Belgium?

Meals served on your premises are taxed at 12 %, drinks served at 21 %, and takeaway dishes generally fall under the 6 % food rate. The 12 % rate covers “restaurant and catering services, excluding the supply of beverages” (Royal Decree No. 20, Table B, Section I).

Belgium has three rates, 6 %, 12 % and 21 %, plus an exceptional zero rate (FPS Finance, VAT rates). Royal Decree No. 20 allocates goods and services to these rates.

Sources: Royal Decree of 14/02/2026, Belgian Official Gazette of 23/02/2026, report to the King and Council of State opinion No. 78.759/3 published with the decree; FPS Finance, VAT rates.

What changed on 1 March 2026?

For hospitality, just one thing: the supply of furnished accommodation and the provision of campsite pitches rise from 6 % to 12 %. The Royal Decree of 14 February 2026, published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 23 February 2026, transfers these services to a new “Hotels, camping” section in Table B, effective on 1 March 2026. The same decree also increases the rate for plant protection products, unrelated to hospitality.

The draft decree went further: it proposed raising certain takeaway dishes from 6 % to 12 % and lowering non-alcoholic drinks served in restaurants from 21 % to 12 %. The Council of State found the first measure difficult to justify (opinion No. 78.759/3 of 5 February 2026), and the published decree contains neither measure. If you read in the press that takeaway food was moving to 12 % or soft drinks to 12 %, that is not what was published.

Are non-alcoholic drinks in restaurants taxed at 12 %?

No. Drinks served remain at the standard rate of 21 %, including soft drinks: the reduction to 12 % appeared in the February 2026 draft decree but not in the decree published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 23 February 2026. The 12 % restaurant services rate continues to exclude the supply of drinks.

Takeaway or eat-in: where is the dividing line?

It depends on what you sell: a restaurant service (12 %) or a food product (6 %). When customers sit down, you serve them, provide crockery and clear the table, it is a restaurant service. When they leave with their dish without these services, it is generally a supply of food. The Council of State reiterates this in its opinion on the 2026 decree: the 6 % rate applies “where this is not a restaurant or catering service but the supply of a food product. This is also often the case when that food is prepared”.

For takeaway drinks, the rate depends on the product: have your accountant validate your list. A pizzeria, chip shop or snack bar mainly selling takeaway therefore benefits from clearly separating eat-in and takeaway sales on its receipts.

Why does one receipt show several rates?

Because each line keeps its own rate: on a bill, the dish is at 12 % and the wine at 21 %. Your till must break down amounts by rate. If your restaurant services exceed €25 000 excl. VAT per year, excluding drinks and takeaway, that receipt comes from a certified cash register system: dates and the threshold are in our SCE 2.0 guide.

Hotels, guesthouses, holiday cottages: VAT rises to 12 %

Since 1 March 2026, overnight stays are taxed at 12 %, with or without breakfast: the new Section IV covers “the supply of furnished accommodation, with or without breakfast”. The report to the King specifies the stays concerned: overnight stays in hotels and motels, stays in holiday residences, and “stays in holiday cottages, guesthouses, B&Bs and other similar accommodation”. The same report states that the new rate applies to VAT becoming chargeable from 1 March 2026 (Articles 17, 22 and 22bis of the Code): a deposit received before that date for a stay in March or later may therefore fall under the previous 6 % rate. Have your accountant check these cases.

A guesthouse does not always fall within the scope of VAT. The VAT Code (Article 44, § 3, 2°, a) only taxes furnished accommodation supplied for less than three months if the establishment provides at least one of these services: welcoming guests in person, household linen (replaced weekly for stays longer than a week) or daily breakfast. Circular 2022/C/119 of 21 December 2022, on Fisconetplus, details these conditions. Without any of these services, the rental is generally exempt; if you operate under the small business exemption scheme, you do not charge VAT either. Check your situation with your accountant.

Is hotel breakfast taxed at 12 %?

Yes, when included in the overnight stay: since 1 March 2026, the new Section IV of Table B applies the 12 % rate to “the supply of furnished accommodation, with or without breakfast”. A meal sold separately from your restaurant menu follows restaurant service rules: 12 % for food, 21 % for drinks.

What about cafés under the flat-rate scheme?

Café and small café operators may fall under a special scheme using flat-rate taxable bases, established by Royal Decree No. 2bis on flat-rate taxable bases for café and small café operators (FPS Finance list of VAT royal decrees). This scheme changes how VAT due is calculated, not the rates above. It has eligibility conditions: discuss these with your accountant before opening or changing schemes.

What your website can do for your prices

Your online menu is often the first place customers see your prices. With Menus, you update it yourself in three languages, with the 14 allergens listed for each dish and a QR code for your tables: €24/month excl. VAT (€19/month over 24 months), with no setup fee. For private hire, seminars and events, Quotes & invoices prepares the quote, gets it signed online and sends the deposit invoice followed by the final invoice: from €35/month excl. VAT over 24 months (€44 over 12 months), plus a one-off €190 setup fee.

Eazyclick replaces neither your certified till nor your accountant: your website, bookings and menu run alongside them. Explore everything we do for hospitality, and our pages for restaurants, hotels, brasseries, bars and cafés, pizzerias, snack bars and chip shops and guesthouses.