VAT on Alcohol vs. VAT on Food – The Boundary

The most common VAT trap for Swedish restaurants is mixed bills. A guest orders steak and wine, served together, but for VAT purposes they are two entirely separate transactions. The steak is 12%, the wine is 25% – and you must report them separately to Skatteverket. Vendion handles this automatically line by line, but it is critical that products are correctly configured.

The principal rule

The 3.5% threshold is magical

Skatteverket has set the threshold at 3.5% abv. Anything at or below counts as non-alcoholic for VAT purposes. This matters:

• Light beer Falcon 2.8% → 12%
• Folköl Pripps Blå 3.5% → 12% (right on the edge, but ≤3.5% counts as non-alcoholic)
• Medium beer 3.6% → 25%
• Strong beer 5.2% → 25%

Note: folköl may be sold to people over 18 but is 12% VAT. Strong beer requires a serving license and is 25%.

Example: a mixed bill

Two guests order:

Breakdown:

• VAT 12% (food + coffee): 640 SEK incl. → 68.57 SEK VAT, 571.43 SEK net
• VAT 25% (wine): 450 SEK incl. → 90.00 SEK VAT, 360.00 SEK net

Bookkeeping (voucher)

For this bill, paid by card:

DEBIT    1580 (Card clearing)         1 090 SEK
CREDIT   3001 (Food sales 12%)           508.93 SEK
CREDIT   3002 (Non-alcoholic sales)       62.50 SEK
CREDIT   3003 (Alcohol sales 25%)        360.00 SEK
CREDIT   2620 (Output VAT 12%)            68.57 SEK
CREDIT   2610 (Output VAT 25%)            90.00 SEK

The sum of credits = 1 090 SEK = the debit. The voucher balances.

How Vendion ensures accuracy

On every menu product you set three things that affect VAT:

1. VAT rate: 25, 12 or 6
2. Category: Food, Drink, Alcohol (determines which 3xxx account revenue lands in)
3. Unit price incl. VAT: The price the guest sees on the menu

When the order is finalized, Vendion loops through each line separately, calculates VAT per line, then aggregates the VAT per rate on the order. The result flows to three places simultaneously:

• The receipt – shows VAT rows per rate
• The control box (SKVFS 2014:9) – receives a CCA payload with split VAT for each payment
• The Z-report and SIE file – sums the day per account

Common mistakes that cost money

1. Wrong VAT rate on alcoholic specialty drink – "Gin & tonic" entered as 12% instead of 25% means you pay 13 percentage points less VAT to Skatteverket than you should. In an audit, this means repayment plus interest.
2. Alcohol-free beer as 25% – Less dangerous (you overpay) but erodes margin unnecessarily.
3. Discounts on a mixed bill – If you give 10% off the whole bill, the discount must be split proportionally between 12% and 25% VAT. Vendion does this automatically.
4. "House special" or "chef's special" – If these are created as temporary products without a VAT rate, Vendion blocks finalization. Good – the system protects you.

Edge case: alcoholic dessert

A tiramisu with liqueur. Is it food (12%) or alcohol (25%)?

Answer: food (12%). Even though the dessert contains a small amount of alcohol, the original food category is preserved. Skatteverket distinguishes between dishes containing alcohol as an ingredient (remain food, 12%) and beverages containing alcohol (become 25%). A glass of red wine beside the meal is 25%. A boeuf bourguignon with red wine in the pot is 12%.

Verify your settings

Go to Admin → Menu → Products and filter by VAT rate. Work through the list and verify:

• Everything at 25% is alcohol
• Everything at 12% is food or non-alcoholic beverage (including light beer)
• Nothing is at 6% unless you sell books or culture tickets

Source: The Swedish VAT Act (ML Ch 7 § 1 paragraph 2), Skatteverket's legal guidance "Beverages and VAT".