The April 1, 2026 VAT Reform — What It Means for Your Restaurant

On April 1, 2026, the rules of the game changed for Swedish restaurants. For the first time since restaurant VAT was introduced in 2012, the same dish has two different VAT rates depending on whether it is served or taken away. This is not a technicality — it is the biggest accounting change the industry has seen in over a decade, and missteps can get expensive fast.

This article covers what the reform means, why Sweden is doing this, what the rules look like in practice — and how to activate Variable VAT in Vendion so every krona ends up on the correct account without you having to think about it.

The background — why was food VAT cut?

The Swedish government decided in autumn 2025 to temporarily reduce VAT on foodstuffs from 12% to 6%. The goal: soften food prices for households after several years of inflation. The reform is legislated to apply from April 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027, after which parliament will decide on any extension.

Important to understand: it is food VAT being cut — not the restaurant service. The Swedish Tax Agency and Ministry of Finance draw a clear line:

• When you as a guest sit at a table and get food brought to you, that is a restaurant service — 12% VAT (unchanged).
• When you buy food to take home, that is a foodstuff sale — 6% VAT (new, temporarily reduced from 12%).

Alcohol is exempted from the cut. Beer, wine, and spirits are always 25%, whether served at a table or taken away.

The new rules — summary

Legal basis: Swedish VAT Act (ML) Ch. 7 § 1, updated via autumn 2025 legislation, plus Tax Agency regulations SKVFS on reduced food VAT.

Why this affects your restaurant directly

If you sell a burger for 149 SEK including VAT, the accounting treatment is completely different depending on how the guest consumes it:

Scenario 1 — burger at table:

• Price incl. VAT: 149 SEK
• VAT (12%): 15.96 SEK
• Net: 133.04 SEK

Scenario 2 — same burger as takeaway:

• Price incl. VAT: 149 SEK
• VAT (6%): 8.43 SEK
• Net: 140.57 SEK

Same product, same menu price, but 7.53 SEK more net revenue in scenario 2 — and the VAT owed to the Tax Agency is 7.53 SEK lower. If you don't distinguish between order formats, you will either pay too much VAT (lose money) or too little (commit tax fraud).

Risks if you do NOT activate Variable VAT

Failing to handle this correctly is not a "we'll-get-to-it-later" matter. It is an immediate compliance problem:

• Wrong VAT from day one. Every takeaway order booked at 12% instead of 6% is formally incorrect accounting.
• Tax Agency audits. After the reform, the Tax Agency has signaled intensified scrutiny — especially on restaurants with high takeaway volume. An auditor finding systematic errors can demand extensive recalculation going back years.
• Loss of cash register registration. For serious violations of the cash register act, the Tax Agency can withdraw approval for your cash register. Without approval, you cannot sell.
• Fines and penalty charges. For deliberate errors, a tax surcharge of 40% of underreported VAT applies.
• Harder to sell the business. Due diligence will uncover VAT reporting errors — lowering valuation or killing the deal.

Vendion's solution — Variable VAT

Vendion has built the entire reform into the checkout flow. Enable Variable VAT once, and the system calculates the correct rate for every line based on two values:

1. VAT category on the product — Food/non-alcoholic beverage, Alcoholic beverage, Other goods 25%, Other goods 6%, or Exempt. Set once per menu category; products inherit automatically.
2. Order format on the order — Eat here, Table, Takeaway, or Delivery. Chosen by staff (or guest in Online Order / Express) at order start.

Vendion then combines these two values per Swedish law and applies the correct VAT rate to every order line. No staff member needs to know the difference between 6% and 12%. No accountant needs to fix anything after the fact. It just adds up.

Bonus features in Vendion's solution:

• Changing order format mid-order — if the guest switches from "eat here" to "to go," the system recalculates VAT automatically and logs the change in the journal (traceability for Tax Agency audits).
• Force order format before payment — activate a safeguard so staff must actively choose the order format before payment can go through. Protects against "forgotten switching" on shared tabs.
• Per-line override — for edge cases (corporate catering, gift cards, special goods) a senior cashier can change the VAT category on a single line with reason and audit trail.
• Refund integrity — if a guest returns a product sold before the reform, the original VAT rate is used, not today's. The Tax Agency requires that credits match the original exactly.

How to activate — step by step

1. Go to Admin → VAT (or Settings → VAT).
2. Enable Activate Variable VAT. The system switches from fixed VAT per product to dynamic calculation via order format + category.
3. Enable Force order format before payment if you want extra protection (recommended for restaurants with mixed dine-in/takeaway).
4. Go to Admin → Menu and verify that every menu category has the correct VAT category:
   • Food, sides, non-alcoholic beverages → Food / non-alcoholic beverage
   • Beer, wine, spirits, cider above 3.5% → Alcoholic beverage
   • Merchandise, t-shirts → Other goods 25%
   • Menu books, cookbooks → Other goods 6% (uncommon)
   • Gift card issuance → Exempt
5. Review Admin → Users → Permission Groups and decide which cashier groups can change order format and do per-line overrides.

The full activation takes roughly 15 minutes if menu categories are set up properly from the start.

What happens in Z-report, SIE, and accounting?

• The Z-report now shows VAT broken out per rate — 6%, 12%, and 25% as separate lines.
• SIE export books to the revenue account and VAT account (2610 alcohol, 2620 served food, 2630 takeaway food).
• The receipt shows the order format ("Eat here" / "Takeaway") at the top — helps Tax Agency spot checks.
• The Z-day vouchers clearly show the mix of food 12% / food 6% / alcohol 25% — no manual adjustment needed by your accountant.

More on this in the article Variable VAT in Z-report and SIE export.

Summary

From April 1, 2026, two VAT rates apply to food in Sweden. Not handling the reform correctly is not an option — it leads to wrong VAT, potential fines, and in the worst case loss of cash register registration. Vendion's Variable VAT feature solves the whole problem once: you enable, set categories per menu group, and the system handles the rest. Staff only see "Eat here" or "Takeaway" at the top of the receipt. Your accountant only sees that the numbers add up.

Enable today at /admin/moms and get the reform under control before your first audit. It takes 15 minutes and saves you a painful January reconciliation in 2027.

Source: Swedish VAT Act Ch. 7 § 1, government proposition autumn 2025, Tax Agency regulations SKVFS on reduced food VAT, Tax Agency legal guidance "Restaurant and catering services".