UK Temporary 5% VAT Rate on Children's Meals and Family Attractions During Summer 2026

UK Introduces Temporary Reduced VAT Rate for Children's Meals and Family Attractions

The UK government has introduced a temporary reduced VAT rate of 5% on certain consumer-facing supplies during the school summer holidays. The measure applies from 25 June 2026 to 1 September 2026 and replaces the standard rate of 20% for qualifying supplies.

What is covered?

The reduced rate applies to three categories of supply:

• Children's meals served on-premises at restaurants, cafés and similar establishments, where the meal is presented and marketed exclusively as a children's meal (e.g. featured on a dedicated children's menu). Takeaway meals do not qualify.
• Children's cinema, theatre, concert and exhibition tickets, where the ticket is marketed and sold specifically as a children's admission. Family tickets that include at least one child also qualify in full.
• Admission to qualifying family attractions for all visitors, regardless of age. This covers amusement and theme parks, zoos, aquariums, museums, soft play centres, circuses, adventure parks and observation attractions, among others.

The reduced rate does not apply to sport, adult-only admissions where no children's or family ticket exists, takeaway food, or goods and services sold separately alongside qualifying admissions.

What should businesses do?

Affected businesses — including restaurants, cinemas, theatres, and attraction operators — should update their point-of-sale systems and VAT accounting to apply the 5% rate to qualifying supplies during the relief window. Where advance payments have already been taken at 20%, businesses may opt to apply the lower rate and should refund customers accordingly.

Tickets sold during the relief period for admission dates on or after 2 September 2026 remain subject to the standard 20% rate. Learn more about the temporary reduced rate of VAT for children's meals, tickets and family attractions.

Also, take a look at Marosa's overview of VAT rates in the UK and Europe.