Almost three-quarters of Dublin pubs that serve food have increased their prices since last year’s rise in VAT.

A new survey from the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) has found that half of pubs have also seen a drop in turnover since the VAT on hospitality increased from 9% to 13.5% in September

According to the survey of 350 bars in the capital, 42% have noticed a drop in lunch and dinner orders.

Donall O’Keeffe said, “These statistics once again underline the importance of reducing the VAT rate on food. Since the Government hiked the VAT rate by 50% last year we’ve seen businesses across the hospitality sector struggle."#Vat9 #budget2025 https://t.co/092tshekPJ

— LVA (@LVADublinPubs) July 16, 2024

One-in-six pubs said they no longer open every day as it is not profitable to do so.

CEO Donall O'Keeffe said such a situation could have been “easily avoided” if the Government had listened to the hospitality sector and kept the VAT rate at 9%. 

“We are calling on the Government at a time when the Exchequer is awash with funds to return the 9% VAT rate on food in the budget in October,” he said. 

“This is essential to protect the viability of food businesses and we think it’s really important that it  happens.” 

Earlier this year, Supermac’s founder Pat McDonagh claimed one-in-10 restaurants are at risk of closure due to increased costs - including VAT.

Main image: A pub meal. Image: Alamy.com