Poland: VAT on Certain Non-Alcoholic beverages to increase to 23%

Poland plans to increase VAT to 23% on selected non-alcoholic alternatives to alcoholic drinks and energy drinks containing at least 20% fruit or vegetable juice. The change is planned from January 1, 2027 and will affect both retail and catering sales.

Poland is preparing an important VAT change for selected non-alcoholic beverages. On September 22, 2026, the Council of Ministers adopted a draft amendment to the VAT Act that would remove the reduced VAT treatment currently available for certain non-alcoholic alternatives to alcoholic drinks and some energy drinks. It is published on:

https://www.gov.pl/web/premier/projekt-ustawy-o-zmianie-ustawy-o-podatku-od-towarow-i-uslug12?utm 

Under the proposal, qualifying beverages would become subject to the standard 23% VAT rate from January 1, 2027. The change would affect products that currently qualify for reduced VAT because they contain at least 20% fruit, vegetable or combined fruit and vegetable juice.

For affected businesses, particularly retailers, hospitality companies, beverage suppliers and POS providers, the change will require product tax rates to be reviewed and updated before the planned effective date.

Which beverages will be affected?

Under current Polish VAT rules, some non-alcoholic beverages classified under CN 2202 can benefit from a reduced VAT rate when fruit, vegetable or fruit-and-vegetable juice represents at least 20% of their composition.

These products can currently be taxed at 5% when sold in normal retail trade. When supplied as part of catering services, the applicable VAT rate can be 8%.

The government now wants to remove this preferential treatment for particular categories of drinks. The VAT rate for affected products would instead become 23%, regardless of whether they are sold through retail or as part of a catering service.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the proposed change covers four main categories:

• non-alcoholic beverages containing more than 0.0% but no more than 0.5% alcohol by volume;
• non-alcoholic beer with an alcohol content of 0.0%;
• other non-alcoholic beverages, such as wine or cider, produced by dealcoholization or by stopping alcoholic fermentation and containing 0.0% alcohol;
• beverages containing added caffeine or taurine.

The change specifically concerns products that contain at least 20% fruit, vegetable or fruit-and-vegetable juice and that currently benefit from the reduced VAT treatment.

For retailers, the most direct change will be an increase from the current 5% VAT rate to 23% on the affected products.

For restaurants, cafés and other businesses supplying these beverages as part of catering services, the rate would increase from 8% to 23%.

For example, a non-alcoholic beer containing sufficient fruit juice may currently qualify for the 5% rate. If the draft becomes law in its current form, that product would instead be subject to the standard 23% rate.

The same principle would apply to qualifying alcohol-free wine, alcohol-free cider and certain energy drinks containing caffeine or taurine.

The government intends to remove this distinction so that non-alcoholic alternatives to alcoholic drinks are generally subject to the standard VAT rate, irrespective of whether enough fruit or vegetable juice has been added to the product.

The Ministry of Finance also links the change to public-health policy.

In its explanation of the draft, the government notes that non-alcoholic beer, wine, cider and similar products can create associations with alcoholic beverages. It also refers to existing restrictions on energy drinks containing caffeine or taurine, including restrictions on their sale to persons under 18 and in schools and vending machines.

An important distinction is that the proposal does not mean that every beverage containing at least 20% fruit or vegetable juice will automatically become subject to 23% VAT.

The measure targets specified categories of beverages, particularly non-alcoholic equivalents of alcoholic drinks and drinks containing caffeine or taurine.

The Council of Ministers adopted the draft amendment on September 22, 2026. The government plans for the new rules to enter into force on January 1, 2027.

However, this remains a legislative proposal at this stage. The draft must continue through the Polish legislative process before the VAT increase becomes final law.

Businesses should therefore monitor the legislation closely, while at the same time preparing for the proposed January deadline.

For POS and software providers, the legal change itself is relatively straightforward, but their customers will need a reliable way to update VAT rates for the correct products at the correct time. The period before January 2027 should therefore be used to verify product master data and prepare coordinated tax-rate updates.

Implementation impact and what the business should do

Businesses selling affected beverages should first identify which products currently use the reduced 5% or 8% VAT rate and determine whether they fall within the categories covered by the new rules.

Retailers and hospitality businesses should prepare their POS systems, ERP systems, product databases, tax engines, e-commerce platforms and price-management systems so that the affected products can move to the 23% VAT rate from the effective date.

Particular attention should be paid to non-alcoholic beer, wine, cider and other dealcoholized beverages, as well as drinks containing caffeine or taurine. Product composition and classification should be checked carefully because the change does not apply to every drink containing fruit or vegetable juice.

Businesses should also review whether the VAT increase affects gross prices, margins, contracts, promotions and shelf labels. POS and software providers should ensure that their solutions allow retailers to apply the new VAT rate correctly from January 1, 2027, if the proposal is enacted as planned.

Finally, businesses should continue monitoring the legislative process because the Council of Ministers has adopted the draft, but the measure is not yet final legislation.

The text above is based on the article published by Prawo.pl. Source

Nikolina Basić, Senior Legal Consultant at Fiscal Solutions

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