Changes in VAT Rates for Selected Types of Food

Effective from 1 January 2026, the standard VAT rate (23%) will once again apply to selected types of food with increased sugar and salt content. These items, which are taxed at a reduced 19% rate in 2025, include the following categories of the Combined Nomenclature:

1. caramel in various forms
2. confectionery (including white chocolate) not containing cocoa (e.g., chewing gum, candies, pastilles, dragees, marzipan, fruit caramels, etc.)
3. chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa (e.g., sweetened cocoa powders, chocolate/cocoa pastes, chocolate bars, blocks, cocoa-based spreads)
4. mixes and doughs intended for the preparation of gingerbread and similar products, sweet biscuits, waffles and wafers, cookies, other baked goods and cakes (e.g., sweet cereals, puffs, etc.)
5. gingerbread and similar products
6. sweet biscuits
7. waffles and wafers
8. cookies
9. sweet or flavoured cereals, salted snacks
10. other items (e.g., cakes)
11. for example, savoury muffins, bakery products such as fornetti, savoury pies
12. potato chips (fried or baked), salted or flavoured
13. vegetables and fruit preserved with sugar
14. jams, fruit jellies, marmalades, fruit or nut purées and pastes with added sugar or sweeteners
15. fruit and nuts otherwise prepared or preserved – e.g., peanuts, peanut butter, roasted almonds and pistachios
16. fruit, vegetable, and nut juices – only if added sugar content exceeds 5 g/100 ml
17. preparations based on coffee extracts or essences (e.g., 3‑in‑1 coffee)
18. preparations based on tea or maté extracts or essences (e.g., sweetened instant tea granules)
19. ice cream and similar frozen products
20. sugar syrups, syrups containing other sweetening ingredients (e.g., glucose, maltodextrin), compound alcoholic preparations used for beverage production
21. sweetened non‑alcoholic beverages, except for dietary drinks listed by the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic (Act No. 363/2011 Coll.), milk and yogurt drinks (if they do not contain coffee, tea, or their substitutes), and other selected non‑alcoholic beverages that contain neither sugar nor sweeteners and also do not contain coffee, tea, or their substitutes.

The Combined Nomenclature codes for the affected food categories are provided in the annex.

For goods classified under Chapters 18 and 19 of the Combined Nomenclature, exceptions apply if the product is a dietary food listed by the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic.

Annex