Change in VAT from January 1st, 2026 (DE)
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Good news! To further support the hospitality industry, the regular VAT on food will be reduced from 19% to 7%. The effective date for this change is expected to be January 1, 2026, provided the draft law is passed later this year.
In this article, you will learn how to adjust your tax rates in your orderbird POS system:
About Legal and Tax Advice
orderbird does not provide legal or tax advice. Everything we write reflects our experience and the experiences of our customers. All information that involves legal or tax-related aspects should under no circumstances be considered legal or tax advice. Therefore, it may be that this procedure is not applicable to you or your business specifically.
For binding statements, please be sure to consult your tax advisor. orderbird accepts no liability for the timeliness, accuracy, or completeness of the information presented here regarding tax-related procedures.
For binding statements, please be sure to consult your tax advisor. orderbird accepts no liability for the timeliness, accuracy, or completeness of the information presented here regarding tax-related procedures.
How to Update the Tax Rates for Your Menu
There are two options for adjusting the tax rates:
Option 1: Adjust your tax rates with just one click
To make updating your tax rates as easy as possible, orderbird offers you a straightforward solution. For a one-time fee orderbird will take care of the adjustment.
This option is available on MY orderbird.
Automated Change? Here's What You Need to Know!
- The automated update will only take place only after your approval.
- To ensure that the updated tax rates are applied in your orderbird PRO App, restart the orderbird PRO App once on all your devices in 2026 and open a new shift.
- Any items with tax rates other than 19% for in-house consumption or outside the super family group “Food” will not be updated.
- If you use DATEV, please remember to also update the stored account numbers for product groups and/or items accordingly.
After the update, check whether all items have been assigned the correct tax rate. orderbird assumes no liability for the correct assignment of the tax rate.
Option 2: Adjust the tax rates individually in your app
As usual, you can update the affected tax rates (and DATEV-account numbers) for the items on your menu individually in the orderbird PRO App: How do I update the tax rates for my menu?
Tax Rates for Germany in 2026
| Tax rates in Germany until 31.12.2025 | Expected since 01.01.2026 |
BEVERAGES & MISCELLANEOUS 19% for Take-out and Dine-in |
19 % |
| FOOD Takeaway currently 7 % | 7 % |
| FOOD Dine-In currently 19 % | 7 % |
Usefull links on this topic (DE)
- Mehrwertsteuersenkung für die Gastronomie ab 2026: Was Betriebe jetzt wissen müssen
- Umsatzsteuer Gastro 2026: Was Gastronomen zum Jahreswechsel beachten müssen