Temporary VAT reduction

To help parents during the summer holiday period, the rate of VAT on qualifying children’s meals and tickets to certain attractions will be temporarily reduced. The reduced rate of 5% will apply from 25^th June 2026 to 01^st September 2026 inclusive. The rate will revert to the standard rate of 20% from 02^nd September 2026.

The measure will affect the following businesses and their advisers:

• Restaurants, café’s and similar catering establishments
• Cinemas, theatre’s exhibition and performance venues
• Operators of circuses, fairs, amusement parks, theme parks, adventure parks, water parks, zoos and other animal attractions, soft plat centres, observation attractions and certain other family focused attractions
• Museums and similar cultural activities

The VAT reduction does not apply to sports, including admission to sporting events, the use of sports facilities and participation in recreational sports.

What qualifies:

• Certain children’s meals
• Children’s admission to theatres, cinemas, concerts, exhibitions and shows
• All admission tickets to certain attractions suitable for families with children

 The reduced rate only applies if the associated conditions are met.

Children’s meals

The temporary reduced rate of VAT only applies to children’s meals which are supplied as part of catering services provided by a restaurant, café or similar establishment for consumption on the premises. It does not apply to children’s takeaway meals. In addition, the meal must be held out for sale only as a meal for children. This will depend on how the meal is marketed, presented and priced, rather than whether it is consumed by a child. For example, a meal would be a children’s meal if it is included on children’s menu or the children’s section of the menu.

It should be noted that the temporary reduced rate does not apply to meals marketed as smaller portions, lower calorie options, discounted versions of adult meals or shared meals which are intended to be consumed by both adults and children. If the same meal is available on both the adult menu and the children’s menu, the children’s meal should be smaller and cheaper. However, portion size alone is not a determining feature.

If the children’s meal include a drink, a main course and a pudding, the whole package will benefit from the temporary reduced rate. However, drinks and add-ons such as sides which are priced separately do not qualify for the reduced rate. It should be noted that where a meal includes an alcoholic drink, that meal will not count as a children’s meal.

If the supplier passes the VAT reduction on, the price of a meal costing £12 prior to 25^th June 2026 will fall to £10.50.

Children’s theatre and cinema tickets

Children’s admission tickets to cinema screenings, theatrical performances, shows, concerts and exhibitions also benefit from a reduced rate of VAT of 5% for the period from 25^th June 2026 to 1 September 2026. However, the reduced rate only applies if the ticket is one that is held out as a right of admission for a child based on how it is marketed, priced and presented. Where tickets are sold separately for different categories e.g. children, adults, over 60’s, the reduced rate only applies to those tickets which are marketed as children’s tickets. If there is only a single category of ticket available to all customers regardless of age, the reduced rate does not apply.

Family tickets which provide admission for a family which includes at least one child benefit from the reduced rate, regardless of the fact that adults are admitted on the same ticket. The reduced rate applies to the whole ticket price, not just the portion relating to child admissions.

For example, if the normal price of a child cinema ticket is £10.99 and the normal price of a family ticket which admits either two adults and two children or one adult and three children is £43.95, between 25^th June 2026 and 01^stSeptember 2026, if the VAT reduction is passed on, the ticket prices will fall to £9.62 and £38.46 respectively.

Attractions and soft play 

The final category to benefit from the temporary reduction in VAT is attractions and soft play.

The following venues fall into this category:

• Amusement parks and fairs (including water and theme parks but not pay-per-go attractions)
• Circuses
• Adventure parks (including outdoor adventure centres)
• Museums and similar cultural facilities (including planetariums, heritage sites, nature reserves, and botanical gardens
• Zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks and farm visitor attractions
• Soft play centres, indoor bounce parks and indoor play facilities
• Observation attractions (including viewing platforms, towers and observation wheels)

Here the reduced rate applies to all admission tickets regardless of the age of the customer. The temporary reduction is not limited to children’s tickets as for theatres and cinemas. However, any upgrades which may be purchased with the ticket remain subject to their normal VAT treatment (unless the add-on qualifies for the reduced rate in it’s own right, such as a children’s meal in an on-site restaurant).

Where a single ticket provides admission to more than one attraction, the reduced rate will apply if the tickets can be used to secure admission outside this window, the temporary VAT reduction does not apply and the supply remains standard rated. An annual season ticket will not benefit from the temporary 5% rate as it can be used both inside and outside this window whereas a monthly ticket allowing admission in August 2026 only would qualify as al admissions fall within the relief window.