VAT Rates by Country (2026)

What Is the VAT Rate? A Quick Answer

There is no single VAT rate — every country sets its own. Across the 60 countries listed on this page, standard VAT rates in 2026 run from 5% (United Arab Emirates, and Canada's federal GST) to 27% (Hungary), with a median standard rate of 20%. Most countries also apply one or more reduced rates to essentials such as food, books, medicines and public transport.

The VAT percentages people look up most

• Highest standard rates: Hungary 27%, Finland 25.5%, then Denmark, Sweden, Croatia and Norway at 25%.
• Lowest standard rates: UAE 5%, Canada 5% GST, Thailand 7%, Nigeria 7.5% and Switzerland 8.1%.
• Lowest rates of any kind: France's 2.1% super-reduced rate (reimbursable medicines, press) is the lowest positive VAT rate in the European Union, followed by Luxembourg's 3%; outside the EU, Switzerland taxes accommodation at 3.8% and essentials at 2.6%.
• No VAT at all: a number of jurisdictions, the United States among them, levy no VAT or GST — see countries with no VAT.

For the average across a region, see VAT rates in Europe, where the 27 EU standard rates average just under 22%. To work out the tax on a specific amount, use the VAT calculator.

Need to know when a business has to register? See VAT registration thresholds by country. Looking up an unfamiliar percentage? Jump to which countries charge each VAT rate.

Looking at an invoice with an unfamiliar percentage? Find the rate below to see which countries use it as a standard rate or as a reduced rate. A few rates are distinctive enough to identify a country on their own: 25.5% is only Finland, 27% only Hungary, 8.1% only Switzerland and 7.5% only Nigeria. Some percentages that still show up in searches are no longer in force: the UK's 17.5% ended in January 2011, and Ireland's 13.5% is a reduced rate, not a standard one.