Restaurant VAT in France: which rate applies, with examples

Which VAT rates apply in a restaurant in France?

These rules come from the official French business portal, Service Public Entreprendre, and the French tax doctrine (BOFiP). They apply to restaurants, brasseries, cafés, crêperies, pizzerias and fast-food outlets in France.

This guide is part of our file on opening a restaurant in France. To go from ingredient cost to menu price, see food cost and menu pricing.

What VAT applies to a meal eaten in?

According to the BOFiP, sales for consumption on the premises are at 10% (article 279 m of the French tax code), except alcoholic drinks. Service Public Entreprendre sums it up: all dishes served in restaurants are at 10%.

This covers:

• starters, mains, desserts, cheese;
• soft drinks served at the table: coffee, tea, juice, soda, water;
• traditional restaurants, cafés, bars and fast-food outlets when the customer eats in;
• caterers serving at the table for an event.

Some products taxed at 20% or 5.5% in shops move to 10% when served in a restaurant, such as sweets or milk chocolate. A seafood platter served at the table is also at 10%.

Example bill

To find the price before VAT from the displayed price, divide by 1.10 (10% rate) or by 1.20 (20% rate).

Your real revenue, the money that pays your costs, is the amount before VAT: €23.36 on this bill, not €26.20.

What VAT applies to takeaway and delivery?

The test is simple: is the product meant to be eaten straight away, or can it be kept?

• Immediate consumption: 10%. Sandwiches, quiches, pizzas, crêpes, chips, kebabs, burgers, salads, desserts and ready meals sold to take away to be eaten quickly, hot or cold.
• Delivery: 10% for pizzas, sushi and ready meals delivered for immediate consumption.
• Exceptions at 5.5%: yoghurts, bags of crisps and single pieces of fruit sold this way.
• Caterer with no seating: 5.5%. A caterer without an eat-in area sells takeaway dishes at 5.5%.

Drinks to take away

If you start takeaway or click and collect, set these rates in your till before day one. Our guide to restaurant takeaway and click and collect covers the organisation.

Why is alcohol always at 20%?

All alcoholic drinks are at the standard rate of 20%, however they are sold: a glass at the bar, a bottle at the table, a bottle to take away, a cocktail. This covers drinks above 1.2% alcohol, and beers above 0.5%.

Service Public Entreprendre gives examples: a whisky and coke or a kir are at 20%, even though they contain a soft drink.

• wine by the glass or bottle: 20%;
• draught beer: 20%;
• house aperitif with alcohol: 20%;
• alcohol-free beer (0.5% or less): the soft drink rate;
• alcohol used in a dish (beef bourguignon, flambéed dessert): the dish’s rate, 10% when eaten in.

To serve alcohol in France you also need the right licence and the operating permit: see restaurant alcohol licence in France.

How do you apply VAT to a set menu with wine?

This is the case that raises the most questions. Two situations:

1. The customer orders items separately

If the customer chooses dishes and drinks separately, each line keeps its own rate. A glass of wine from the list is at 20%. A wine-pairing supplement added to a menu is also at 20%.

2. The menu has one price, alcoholic drink included

The BOFiP requires you to split the price: the share matching the alcohol is at 20%, the rest at 10%. If the price of the alcohol cannot be identified, you must use a reasonable method you can justify.

The method the BOFiP gives as an example, when items are also sold à la carte:

1. add up the à la carte prices before VAT of the 10% items: starter €4.54 + main €9.10 = €13.64;
2. add up the à la carte prices before VAT of all items, wine included: €13.64 + glass of wine €4.16 = €17.80;
3. work out the ratio: 13.64 ÷ 17.80, rounded to 0.76 in the official example;
4. apply this ratio to the menu price before VAT. For an €18 menu including VAT, the BOFiP uses €16.01 before VAT, of which 0.76 × 16.01 = €12.16 at 10%; the remaining €3.85 before VAT is at 20%.

Check: €12.16 + 10% = €13.38 and €3.85 + 20% = €4.62, which makes €18.00.

If you do not split the price, the whole sale goes to the highest rate (20%), which costs you margin on the food.

Tills, returns and micro-businesses: what should you know?

You collect VAT from customers and pay it to the State, after deducting the VAT you paid on business purchases (stock, equipment, works). Your accountant tells you which regime applies and how often you file.

Till software

According to impots.gouv.fr, if you are registered for VAT, sell to consumers and use till software or a till system, it must guarantee that data is unalterable, secure, kept and archived. You prove it with a certificate from an accredited body or an individual statement from the software publisher.

• ask your till supplier for the certificate or statement and file it;
• check every till item has the right rate (food, soft drink, alcohol, takeaway);
• create separate keys for the same drink eaten in and taken away if rates differ;
• for menus with alcohol, set up the split approved by your accountant.

Micro-businesses

If you fall under the VAT franchise (article 293 B of the French tax code), you do not charge VAT and the secure-till rule does not apply. Your receipts and invoices state “TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI”. Thresholds change: check your situation with your accountant or tax office.

Which VAT mistakes should a restaurant avoid?

• Pricing on the VAT-inclusive amount. Your margin is calculated before VAT. A €15 dish only brings in €13.64 before VAT.
• Putting a whole menu at 10% when it includes a glass of wine: the alcohol share must be at 20%.
• Forgetting takeaway rates when you start takeaway: a sealed can does not have the same rate as a soft drink in a cup.
• Charging 5.5% on takeaway dishes made to be eaten straight away: it is 10%.
• Keeping an old till with no certificate or publisher statement.
• Displaying prices before VAT: in French restaurants, displayed prices include taxes and service (see mandatory restaurant signs in France).

For more on margins, read our guide to restaurant profitability.

The restaurant owner’s guide

Open, run, grow: each stage has its full guide and detailed guides, with their reading time.

This guide for your trade

• Restaurants
• Bars
• Bakeries

Go further

• How to open a restaurant in France
• Food cost and menu pricing
• Restaurant takeaway and click and collect
• Restaurant alcohol licence in France
• Restaurant profitability