The government’s Great British Summer Savings scheme will see VAT temporarily reduced from 20% to 5% on certain children’s meals, family tickets, and days out this summer. This could be a significant boost for charities in the hospitality and leisure sectors, helping to increase demand while potentially reducing cost pressures for parents during the summer holidays.
The measure is designed to help reduce the cost of family activities during the school holidays, but for charities involved in the cultural, leisure, or hospitality sectors, it also brings a very tight implementation window. The reduced rate will apply from 25 June 2026 to 1 September 2026, causing administrative challenges for VAT return staggers straddling this period. The temporary reduced rate will apply to:
- Certain supplies of children’s meals
- Children’s admission to theatres, cinemas, concerts, exhibitions, and shows
- All admission tickets to certain attractions suitable for families with children
Not every child-friendly product or family activity will qualify for the reduced rate, and charities will need to make sure their pricing, booking systems, and VAT systems are updated to cope with the change.
Which charities could be affected?
The temporary cut is most likely to affect museums, galleries, theatres, zoos, churches, cathedrals, and charities who offer admission to visitor attractions, such as historic buildings or wildlife parks. It will also apply to cinemas and charities offering leisure facilities such soft play centres, water and theme parks, farm attractions, and similar family focused venues.
The reduced rate will not apply to sporting activities or events.
As always, specific conditions apply, and eligibility to the reduced rate will depend on what is being supplied and how it is sold. HMRC guidance makes clear that how a meal is marketed, presented, and priced will be key to determining whether the reduced rate applies. The distinction will be important.
For example, a children’s meal served in a restaurant may qualify for the reduced rate, but a takeaway children’s meal will not. A family ticket that includes at least one child admission may qualify, but an adult-only ticket will remain standard-rated. Admission to a qualifying family attraction may be reduced-rated, but food, merchandise, upgrades, and other extras sold separately will keep their normal VAT treatment.
More detailed guidance is set out in HMRCs guidance: Temporary reduced rate of VAT for children's meals, tickets and family attractions - GOV.UK
What charities should be thinking about now
For charities, the main challenge will be applying the reduced rate correctly without disrupting ‘normal’ activity during what is likely to be a busy period. Consideration will also need to be given to pricing strategies, including how promotions can be implemented, how margins may be improved, and how any benefit can be passed on to customers in a clear and positive way,
Charities will need to consider the following:
- How accounting records, till systems, and software will need to be adjusted to cope with the change
- Whether third party online booking platforms will need to be adapted in good time
- What staff training may be needed so teams can deal with questions and apply the temporary changes correctly
- Whether ticketing systems can distinguish between children’s tickets, adult tickets, and family tickets. Where tickets are bought in advance, the date of admission will also matter. Tickets for qualifying admissions during the temporary period may benefit from the reduced rate, but tickets bought during the summer for events or admissions after 1 September 2026 will not.
- How bundled offers should be treated. Many venues sell packages that combine admission with food, parking, merchandise, fast-track entry, or other extras. These arrangements may need to be broken down for VAT purposes, rather than treated as one single reduced-rate supply. Charities will also need to consider pricing, including how any savings will be communicated to customers and how refunds will be handled where customers have already paid.
- The potential reputational risk for charities who decide the change is too difficult to implement or does not pass on any savings to customers.
Additional considerations
For charities who fall within the cultural exemption, the reduced rate doesn’t apply to admission tickets. As an eligible body, the supply of admission continues to be exempt.
For tickets sold in advance, in relation to events taking place during the ‘qualifying’ period, charities have the option of applying the reduced rate but charities should be aware that some customers may request refunds for ‘overpaid’ VAT.
Many charities may conclude that the limited scope of the relief does not justify the administrative burden and additional cost of implementing the temporary change. However, it’s important to note that the reduced rate is not optional and must be applied. The decision for charities is whether to pass on the saving.
Charities should therefore seek appropriate support to guide them through the requirements of this short-term relief.
Socrates Socratous, VAT Consultancy Partner at Buzzacott LLP, can be contacted at socratouss@buzzacott.co.uk