Scope of the concept of “restaurant service” to which the reduced VAT rate applies

Unoffical translation

On July 30, 2021, the Supreme Administrative Court issued a judgment settling the issue of VAT taxation of take-out food. According to it, food taken to go and not eaten on the spot in the infrastructure provided by the taxpayer constitutes a supply of foodstuffs that may be subject to a reduced VAT rate.

Referring to the judgment of the CJEU of 22 April 2021 in case C-703/19 , the Supreme Administrative Court found that when dealing with a restaurant service offered by a taxpayer inside a restaurant, it is the purchase of a ready-made take-out dish and not consuming it on the spot. by a consumer, constitutes a supply of goods. If, on the other hand, the consumer chooses to consume it on the spot, it will be a service. An interpretation of the regulations according to which sales in restaurants and food-courts in shopping malls, both inside and to take-away, as well as in external drive-in and walk-through windows, would always constitute a restaurant service taxed with a higher VAT rate would violate the principle of neutrality.

Source PwC

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