2023 combined targeted temporary reliefs with two meaningful changes to published VAT-rate tables: Cyprus added a new reduced rate and Luxembourg temporarily lowered most of its rates.
Cyprus: new 3% reduced VAT rate
Cyprus introduced a 3% reduced VAT rate on 21 July 2023 for specified supplies. The standard rate remained 19%, while the existing 5% and 9% reduced rates continued to apply to their own categories.
Source: Republic of Cyprus – VAT (Amending) Law No. 75(I)/2023
Luxembourg: temporary one-point reduction
For supplies from 1 January through 31 December 2023, Luxembourg temporarily reduced its normal rate from 17% to 16%, its intermediate rate from 14% to 13%, and its reduced rate from 8% to 7%. The super-reduced 3% rate did not change. This was explicitly a one-year measure, so the former rates returned from 1 January 2024.
Source: Luxembourg VAT Administration – Circular 812
Poland and Finland: temporary measures continued or ended
Poland continued its temporary 0% VAT rate on specified basic food products during 2023. Finland’s temporary measures ended on 30 April 2023: electricity returned from 10% to the general rate, and passenger transport stopped benefiting from the temporary 0% rate.
Sources: Polish Ministry of Finance and Finnish Tax Administration
What did not change?
No other permanent, nationwide headline-rate changes were identified in 2023 among the countries covered by VATCalculator.eu. This does not mean every supply had the same tax treatment: reduced rates, exemptions and territorial rules remain country- and product-specific.