Planning a family day out this summer? Or perhaps you run a restaurant, café, theatre or visitor attraction?
A temporary VAT reduction announced by the Chancellor could make children’s meals and admission to certain attractions cheaper over the school holidays.
The reduced rate is only available for a limited time, so it’s important for both businesses and families to understand how the rules work.
What has changed?
From 25 June 2026 to 1 September 2026 (inclusive), the VAT rate on qualifying children’s meals and admission to certain attractions has been temporarily reduced from 20% to 5%.
The standard 20% VAT rate will return from 2 September 2026.
The aim is to help reduce the cost of family outings during the summer holidays while encouraging spending in the hospitality and leisure sectors.
Which children’s meals qualify?
Not every meal sold to a child qualifies for the reduced VAT rate.
To qualify, both of the following conditions must be met:
- The meal must be marketed and sold specifically as a children’s meal.
- It must be served by a restaurant, café or similar establishment for consumption on the premises.
Interestingly, it’s how the meal is marketed, rather than who eats it, that determines whether the reduced rate applies.
For example:
- A child eating an adult meal does not qualify.
- An adult buying a children’s meal does qualify because the meal itself is marketed as a children’s meal.
What doesn’t qualify?
The temporary 5% VAT rate does not apply to:
- Takeaway children’s meals.
- Smaller portions from the adult menu.
- Lower-calorie or discounted adult meals.
- Shared meals intended for adults and children.
- Meals that include an alcoholic drink.
- Additional items such as sides, which continue to follow their normal VAT treatment.
However, if a qualifying children’s meal includes multiple courses and a non-alcoholic drink as part of a package, the entire package benefits from the reduced rate.
As an example, a children’s meal that would normally cost £12 could cost £10.50 during the temporary VAT reduction.
What about cinema and theatre tickets?
The reduced VAT rate also applies to qualifying children’s cinema, theatre, show and concert tickets.
To qualify, the ticket must be sold specifically for a child. Family tickets that include one or more children also benefit from the temporary reduction.
However, standard group tickets that aren’t family tickets remain subject to the normal VAT rules, and adult tickets continue to be charged at 20% VAT.
A children’s theatre ticket that would normally cost £30 could be reduced to £26.25 during the temporary period.
Which attractions are included?
The temporary 5% VAT rate also applies to admission charges for many family attractions.
These include:
- Theme parks and amusement parks.
- Water parks.
- Adventure parks.
- Zoos and wildlife parks.
- Aquariums.
- Museums and heritage attractions.
- Nature reserves and botanical gardens.
- Farm visitor attractions.
- Soft play centres.
- Indoor bounce parks and play facilities.
- Observation towers and viewing attractions.
- Circuses.
Unlike children’s cinema and theatre tickets, the reduced VAT rate for these attractions applies to all admission tickets, regardless of the visitor’s age.
It’s worth noting that sporting activities are not included, and the reduced rate applies only to admission charges during the qualifying period.
What does this mean for businesses?
If you operate a restaurant, café, theatre or qualifying visitor attraction, you’ll need to ensure your pricing and VAT accounting correctly reflect the temporary change.
Because the reduced rate only applies to specific products and for a limited period, it’s important that your systems are updated correctly before reverting to the standard VAT rate from 2 September 2026.
Need advice on the temporary VAT changes?
Temporary tax changes can create extra administration and increase the risk of mistakes if they’re not implemented correctly.
If you’re unsure whether your business qualifies, need help applying the correct VAT rate or want advice on how these temporary rules affect you, contact Jon Davies or the team at Jon Davies Accountants. We’ll help you stay compliant and make sure you’re charging the correct amount throughout the temporary VAT reduction.
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Any questions?
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