How standard VAT rates changed over six decades.

The sourced history of standard VAT rates across every supported jurisdiction — the EU-27 plus Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland — since each country's first reviewed year: an interactive comparison chart, a change timeline with the government in office and the enacting instrument, and rankings, with the authority source behind every point.

Standard rate over time

Every line is the standing standard rate of a jurisdiction, stepped on the date the change took effect. Temporary measures and territorial regimes are excluded.

Inspect year

EU-27 average

Click a legend entry to isolate one line; click it again to restore the rest. Selecting more than 8 switches to one panel each.

Reviewed from later than introduction for France (from 1970; VAT introduced 1968). Years before a line starts have no reviewed rate and stay blank.

5 of 31 selected

Choose countries (5 of 31)

History sources: European Commission — VAT rates applied in the Member States (2021 edition) · European Commission — Taxes in Europe Database (TEDB) v5 · Last reviewed 2026-09-17

Change timeline: Spain

Jurisdiction

Spain introduced VAT on 1986-01-01. The reviewed series begins on 1986-01-01 and covers every standing change since introduction. 5 standing changes.

Effective	Change	Direction	Government and enactment
1986-01-01	12%	Introduced	In office: Felipe González Márquez PSOE · La Moncloa — Gobiernos por legislaturas (II Legislatura) Enacted by: Ley 30/1985, de 2 de agosto, del Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido, art. 27.1 · source
1992-01-01	12% → 13%	Increase (+1)	In office: Felipe González Márquez PSOE · La Moncloa — Gobiernos por legislaturas (IV Legislatura) Enacted by: Ley 31/1991, de 30 de diciembre, de Presupuestos Generales del Estado para 1992, art. 81 · source
1992-08-01	13% → 15%	Increase (+2)	In office: Felipe González Márquez PSOE · La Moncloa — Gobiernos por legislaturas (IV Legislatura) Enacted by: Real Decreto-ley 5/1992, de 21 de julio, de Medidas Presupuestarias Urgentes, art. 1 · source
1995-01-01	15% → 16%	Increase (+1)	In office: Felipe González Márquez PSOE · La Moncloa — Gobiernos por legislaturas (V Legislatura) Enacted by: Ley 41/1994, de 30 de diciembre, de Presupuestos Generales del Estado para 1995, art. 78 · source
2010-07-01	16% → 18%	Increase (+2)	In office: José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero PSOE · La Moncloa — Gobiernos por legislaturas (IX Legislatura) Enacted by: Ley 26/2009, de 23 de diciembre, de Presupuestos Generales del Estado para 2010, art. 79 · source
2012-09-01	18% → 21%	Increase (+3)	In office: Mariano Rajoy Brey PP · La Moncloa — Gobiernos por legislaturas (X Legislatura) Enacted by: Real Decreto-ley 20/2012, de 13 de julio, de medidas para garantizar la estabilidad presupuestaria y de fomento de la competitividad, art. 23 · source

The government named is the one in office on the effective date, and the instrument is the one that enacted the change. Both are office-holding and enactment facts, not a claim that a party or person caused the change; coalitions, caretaker governments, EU-accession commitments and EU law all shape a rate decision.

Movement over the reviewed history

Each list uses the 30 reviewed series — the EU-27 plus Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland; Northern Ireland shares the United Kingdom series — states its window, and links a country name to the explorer. “Last ten years” means every change effective since 17 September 2016.

Most standard-rate increases

Count of standing increases since each jurisdiction's first reviewed year.

01
9
02
7
03
7
04
7
05
7
06
6

Longest unchanged standard rate

Whole years since the last standing change in the reviewed series.

01
42yrs
02
36yrs
03
34yrs
04
30yrs
05
27yrs
06
22yrs

Largest increase in the last ten years

Net of every reviewed change in the window, with each step.

01
2024: 20%→22% (+2) · 2025: 22%→24% (+2)
+4
02
2025: 20%→23% (+3)
+3
03
2024: 24%→25.5% (+1.50)
+1.50
04
2025: 19%→21% (+2)
+1
05
2024: 7.7%→8.1% (+0.40)
+0.10

Decreases in the last ten years

Every reviewed decrease in the window, largest first.

01
20%→19%
-1
02
8%→7.7%
-0.30

Largest single increase

The biggest one-step rise in each reviewed series.

01
8%→15%
+7
02
11.11%→17.65%
+6.54
03
20%→25%
+5
04
20%→25%
+5
05
19%→24%
+5
06
18%→22%
+4

Cut, then raised again

Lowered the standard rate and later took it above the pre-cut level.

01
21.5%→21% in 2010, then 21%→23% in 2012
23%
02
18.5%→17.5% in 1992, then 17.5%→19% in 2001
19%
03
22%→19% in 2000, then 19%→24% in 2010
24%
04
8%→7.7% in 2018, then 7.7%→8.1% in 2024
8.1%
05
10%→8% in 1974, then 8%→15% in 1979
15%

Standard rate today

Highest standard rates today

Every supported jurisdiction, including those without a reviewed history.

01
Hungary (HU)
27%
02
Finland (FI)
25.5%
03
Croatia (HR)
25%
04
Denmark (DK)
25%
05
Norway (NO)
25%
06
Sweden (SE)
25%
07
Estonia (EE)
24%
08
Greece (EL)
24%

Lowest standard rates today

Every supported jurisdiction, including those without a reviewed history.

01
Switzerland (CH)
8.1%
02
Luxembourg (LU)
17%
03
Malta (MT)
18%
04
Cyprus (CY)
19%
05
Germany (DE)
19%
06
Austria (AT)
20%
07
Bulgaria (BG)
20%
08
France (FR)
20%

Reduced, special and zero tiers sit beside each standard rate in the full rate table, and the arithmetic is in the VAT calculator.

Reviewed coverage

The reviewed history is honest about where it starts. A series marked “From introduction” covers every standing change since the country introduced VAT; a row that carries a gap note starts later than introduction because the reviewed source does not reach further back.

History from	VAT introduced	Standing changes	Coverage
1973-01-01	1973-01-01	2	From introduction
1971-01-01	1971-01-01	6	From introduction
1994-04-01	1994-04-01	2	From introduction
1998-01-01	1998-01-01	2	From introduction
1992-07-01	1992-07-01	7	From introduction
1993-01-01	1993-01-01	4	From introduction
1967-07-03	1967-07-03	6	From introduction
2009-01-01	1991-01-01	3	Gap: source starts 2009, VAT introduced 1991
1994-06-01	1994-06-01	3	From introduction
1970-01-01	1968-01-01	6	Gap: source starts 1970, VAT introduced 1968
1968-01-01	1968-01-01	7	From introduction
1987-01-01	1987-01-01	6	From introduction
1988-01-01	1988-01-01	3	From introduction
1972-11-01	1972-11-01	14	From introduction
1973-01-01	1973-01-01	7	From introduction
1995-05-01	1995-05-01	3	From introduction
1994-05-01	1994-05-01	2	From introduction
1970-01-01	1970-01-01	4	From introduction
1995-01-01	1995-01-01	1	From introduction
1969-01-01	1969-01-01	9	From introduction
1993-07-05	1993-07-05	1	From introduction
1986-01-01	1986-01-01	6	From introduction
1993-07-01	1993-07-01	6	From introduction
1993-01-01	1993-01-01	6	From introduction
1999-07-01	1999-07-01	2	From introduction
1986-01-01	1986-01-01	5	From introduction
1969-01-01	1969-01-01	6	From introduction
1973-04-01	1973-04-01	4	From introduction
1973-04-01	1973-04-01	4	Shares the GB series; regime boundary 1 January 2021
1970-01-01	1970-01-01	4	From introduction
1995-01-01	1995-01-01	5	From introduction

Method and sources

Primary source, to 2021

The European Commission's final annual rate publication. Its sheet records every standard-rate change by exact date from each country's VAT introduction.

Continuation, 2016 → now

The Commission's Taxes in Europe Database, used only to extend each series past the 2021 publication.

Date and value authority

Dates and values come from the national instrument where its commencement and rate provision have been read, and from the annual Commission table otherwise (2 of 156 EU-27 change points still rest on the Commission table). A review advances the reviewed date only when it covers every point; the per-point state is kept in the certification ledger.

National series

Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland are sourced to their national instruments — legislation.gov.uk, the Storting's annual VAT decision, and Federal Council ordinances under Fedlex — and are recorded in the research dossiers, with any unreviewed wording stated rather than inferred.

Enacting instruments

Where a national gazette or official legal database states the instrument that fixed a standard rate, the timeline records it (Enacted by:) with the official source, and the proposer or adopting body only where the official record states it. A point whose instrument was not located from an official source is left blank rather than inferred.

Excluded by design

Temporary standard-rate measures (Germany 2020, Ireland 2020–21, Luxembourg 2023, Italy 1980, Great Britain 2008–09), territorial regimes such as the Canary Islands, and every reduced or zero tier.

Reuse

The Commission sources are reused under the European Commission reuse notice (Commission Decision 2011/833/EU). National instruments are cited by name, provision and link; no source text is redistributed.

Sources: European Commission — VAT rates applied in the Member States (2021 edition) · European Commission — Taxes in Europe Database (TEDB) v5 · Last reviewed 2026-09-17

Which countries does the history cover?

The reviewed history covers the 27 European Union jurisdictions, from each country's first reviewed year — 1967 for Denmark, 1968 for Germany and France, the 1980s for Spain, Portugal and Greece, and the 1990s for most of the 2004, 2007 and 2013 accession countries — plus Great Britain (1973), Norway (1970) and Switzerland (1995). Northern Ireland shares the United Kingdom's series: its standard rate is set UK-wide, and from 1 January 2021 the Protocol changes the rules for goods, not the level of the standard rate.

Why does the history start in different years?

Because VAT itself did. Denmark introduced it in 1967, Germany and France in 1968, Norway in 1970, Great Britain in 1973, Spain and Portugal in 1986, Switzerland in 1995 and Croatia in 1998. Each reviewed series begins at that country's own introduction date, or later where the reviewed source does not reach back, and the earliest entries for a few countries are year-level rather than day-level.

What is the EU-27 average line?

It is the arithmetic mean of the 27 reviewed standard rates as a fixed panel, published from 2009-01-01 — the date all 27 have a reviewed rate. Before that date the panel would silently change membership, so no average is drawn. Arithmetic mean of the current EU-27 reviewed standard rates as a fixed panel. It is published from the date all 27 have a reviewed rate (1 January 2009, when Estonia's reviewed series begins); before that the panel would silently change membership.

Is the standard rate the rate I charge?

No. The standard rate is the default for most goods and services, but a listed supply can fall in a reduced, zero or exempt category, and temporary measures apply to specific goods. This page is history, not tax advice: the linked authority publication governs.

Why is there no ranking by political party?

Because office-holding is not authorship. A rate change is enacted by a coalition, often takes effect under a later government than the one that wrote it, and can be driven by an EU-accession commitment, the 15% Directive floor or an IMF programme. Where a change has been reviewed, the timeline names the government in office on the effective date and every coalition party, the instrument that enacted the change where an official source states it, and states that this is not a claim that a party caused the change.

Orientation only. Rate history is a record of what the reviewed sources published, not tax advice. Temporary measures, reduced tiers and territorial regimes are excluded by design, and a rate that applied in the past may not describe the supply you make today. The linked authority publication governs.

Need the current rate with its source, per check?

VAT.tools keeps a sourced observation for every validation and company check, so a rate or registration decision can point at the record behind it.

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