By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

Do you drink your orangeade at the restaurant? VAT 24%. Do you order it at home? VAT 13%. The circular of the head of AADE attempts to bring order to the chaos of imposing the correct VAT rate for non-alcoholic drinks, juices and beverages.

EXCEPT coffee, cocoa, tea, chamomile and other beverages which, HOWEVER available, will be subject to the reduced VAT of 13% at least until June 30, 2024. Alcoholic beverages, regardless of how they are served, are subject to a rate of 24%

According to the circular of Mr. A splash non-alcoholic beverages, juices and drinks are subject to the 24% rate if they are intended for on-site consumption which is characterized as the provision of a catering service.

As also defined in the circular, for a catering service to be considered as such, not only the supply of the product is sufficient, but it should also be accompanied by support services.

And as support services to cafes, patisseries, restaurants, grills and wineries and other related businesses include, among other things, the provision of tableware and other equipment, the serving service, the cleaning of the space and the tables so that the direct consumption of the product on the spot becomes more pleasant.

In addition, there must be transmission of orders in the kitchen, enclosed and heated areas, intended specifically for the consumption of food or even a changing room or toilet.

In the case of package delivery for consumption outside the store, regardless of whether the package is received by the customer himself (take away) or sent by the company (delivery), we do not have a catering service but an act of delivery of the goods and the VAT rate here is 13% as no additional services are provided by the company for immediate on-site consumption of the package. The above applies regardless of whether the “package” is sent to the customer by the taxable person himself or through a third party (e.g. companies that manage food distribution platforms).

The problem lies when the required infrastructure is limited (eg some simple benches). There, according to the circular – which is based on a previous decision of the European Court of Justice, C-703/19) the subjective perception of each consumer should also be taken into account. In particular, when the consumer chooses not to benefit from the material means and human resources made available by the restaurant or catering business, i.e. their existence is not of decisive importance for the specific consumer, the supply of food or drinks cannot considered to be accompanied by some related support service and therefore characterized as delivery of goods.

In essence and as tax technicians explained on skai.gr, in the example where 1 group goes to drink soft drinks in a fast food restaurant, e.g. , if they choose to sit at the table and take advantage of any services offered they will be charged with 24% VAT, if they choose to drink it standing up, the VAT will be at 13%.