Dinner at the table, coffee to go, or ice cream in a cone. Why “here or to go” can change VAT in hospitality in 2026 — and when rates are 5 %, 19 %, or 23 %.
An evening at a restaurant has its choreography. Tables fill up, steam rises from the kitchen, the clink of glassware carries from the bar. And somewhere at the till, between orders and smiles, a short question lands that guests often barely think about:
Here, or to go?
In 2026 that may no longer be only a packaging question. From a VAT perspective it can decide whether the business is providing a restaurant service, or selling goods.
And that is exactly where the differences on the receipt begin.
Picture a burger and a cola.
The guest sits in the restaurant, uses the premises, and along with the food receives services that enable its immediate consumption. That may include, for example, a table and chair, crockery, cutlery, waiting staff, toilets, or other facilities of the establishment.
If it is a genuine restaurant service, the VAT rates in 2026 are set as follows:
A single restaurant visit can therefore easily include items at three different VAT rates.
It is not only about what the customer buys. What also matters is how the food or drink is provided to them.
Now we wrap that same burger in paper packaging and the customer leaves.
If, when the food is supplied, sufficient supporting services enabling its immediate consumption are not provided, from a VAT perspective it is generally no longer a restaurant service, but a supply of goods.
And here the important difference lies.
For food or drink sold as goods, one cannot automatically say:
“to go = 23 %”
Nor does the following hold:
“food = always 5 %”
When goods are sold, the VAT rate is determined by the specific type and classification of the product. The result may therefore be 5 %, 19 %, or 23 %.
From 1 January 2026, moreover, several precisely defined food products moved from the 19 % rate into the standard 23 % rate.
These are mainly certain finished products with a higher sugar or salt content, for example:
For a hospitality business it is therefore important to distinguish not only “here or to go”, but also, for goods, the correct classification of the specific item.
With ice cream the difference is very easy to see.
A guest sits down in a patisserie and orders an ice-cream sundae. The business provides space for consumption and service that has the character of a restaurant service.
Ice cream served as food within such a service is subject to 5 % VAT.
A few metres away, a customer buys ice cream through a window into a cone and leaves.
Without sufficient supporting services this is a sale of goods. Ice cream as goods falls, from 2026, among products to which 23 % VAT applies.
The same ice cream.
A different method of supply.
A different tax rate.
In the morning a queue of people stands outside the café.
One customer orders a cappuccino and sits inside. If it is a restaurant service connected with serving a non-alcoholic drink, 19 % VAT applies.
The second customer takes the drink in a paper cup and leaves.
In that case it may be a supply of goods.
Here, however, one must watch out for a common oversimplification: coffee “to go” is not automatically 23 %.
When a drink is sold as goods, its specific classification must be determined and, accordingly, the correct VAT rate.
For some sweetened drinks the result from 2026 may be 23 %; for another product the rate may be different.
When configuring the till system it is therefore safer to start from the specific item, not merely from the “to go” button.
With hotels the situation can be even more interesting.
If breakfast is included directly in the price of the stay and the hotel does not offer the option to book the same accommodation without breakfast, it may be a single composite supply.
Accommodation including such breakfast is subject to 5 % VAT.
What if breakfast can be purchased separately?
Even then it does not follow that every roll, juice, and coffee must automatically be split out.
The Financial Administration, for example, describes a situation where a hotel offers separately purchasable breakfast in the form of a Swedish buffet at one fixed price, and the package includes both food and non-alcoholic drinks.
Such breakfast may be treated as one composite supply, whose principal element is food. 5 % VAT then applies to the whole breakfast.
A different situation may arise with half board, full board, or individually ordered meals and drinks. There it may already be necessary to assess the individual supplies separately.
And the minibar?
That is not automatically part of the accommodation service. If a guest separately buys a drink, a sweet, or another item from the minibar, it is generally a sale of goods and the rate is determined by the specific product.
A small line in the price list can mean a big difference in accounting.
A wedding. Set tables. Crockery. Waiting staff. Service.
If the supplier, together with the food, provides sufficient supporting services enabling its immediate consumption, it may be a catering / food-service.
Conversely, if the business only prepares the food, delivers it in packaging, and hands it over to the customer without further supporting services, transport alone does not turn it into a catering service from a VAT perspective.
It may be a supply of goods.
For a genuine catering service the rules for the food and drinks provided then apply:
For packages at a single price, however, it may be necessary to assess whether there are several separate supplies or one composite supply with a principal element and ancillary elements.
For larger catering jobs it is therefore unwise to set the rate solely by the item name on the invoice.
The three VAT rates — 5 %, 19 %, and 23 % — have operated in Slovakia since 1 January 2025.
In 2026, however, a significant change came for the sale of certain foods as goods.
From 1 January 2026, several precisely defined food products were moved from the 19 % to the 23 % VAT rate.
That is precisely why the difference between a restaurant service and a sale of goods is even more visible.
A pastry eaten in a patisserie as part of a restaurant service may carry 5 % VAT.
The same pastry wrapped for the customer to take away may, as goods, be subject to 23 % VAT.
Ice cream at the table may be 5 %.
Ice cream in a cone without sufficient supporting services 23 %.
On the other hand, ordinary food sold to go is not automatically 23 %. Its rate depends on the specific classification.
And that is exactly where the biggest difference lies.
For every item it is worth asking two questions.
1. Are we providing a restaurant or catering service?
That is, not only food or drink, but also sufficient services enabling their immediate consumption.
If yes, as a guide:
| Restaurant or catering service | VAT |
|---|---|
| Food | 5 % |
| Non-alcoholic drink / alcohol up to and including 0.5 % | 19 % |
| Alcohol above 0.5 % | 23 % |
2. Or is the customer buying goods?
For example a product wrapped to go without sufficient supporting services.
Then there is no longer one universal “takeaway rate”. You need to know the specific type and classification of the product and, accordingly, determine whether it falls under 5 %, 19 %, or 23 % VAT.
For staff it may be one tap on the display.
For the correct VAT setup, however, it can be crucial information.
The business should therefore know:
For specific products sold as goods, correct classification under Annex No. 7 to the VAT Act and the Combined Nomenclature is important.
When the dining room empties and the last receipt remains on the table, the percentages are no longer merely abstract numbers.
They also say what the customer actually received.
Food together with service and space for consumption?
Or a product they took away with them?
In hospitality in 2026 the difference between these situations can matter for the correct VAT rate and for how the till system is set up.
And that is why the simple question:
“Here, or to go?”
carries far more weight than it first appears.
This article is for information only and does not constitute tax or legal advice. We recommend verifying the specific classification of a product or an individual situation against the current VAT Act, methodological materials of the Financial Administration of the Slovak Republic, or with an accountant or tax adviser.