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What the VAT reduction means for your business in 90 seconds
TLDR (too long didn’t read): What you need to know
The Government’s Great British Summer Savings Scheme introduces a temporary reduction in VAT from 20% to 5% on qualifying family attractions, children’s tickets and eligible children’s meals between 25 June 2026 and 1 September 2026, alongside free bus travel for children throughout August. For many tourism and hospitality businesses, this should provide a welcome opportunity to attract more visitors, encourage domestic spending and strengthen summer trading.
The wider aim is to stimulate local economies by encouraging more spending on UK tourism, hospitality and leisure activities during the peak summer season.
Great British Summer Savings Scheme at a glance
- VAT reduced from 20% to 5%
- Applies from 25 June 2026 to 1 September 2026
- Covers qualifying family attractions
- Covers qualifying children’s admission tickets
- Covers eligible children’s meals
- Free bus travel for children aged 5-15 throughout August on participating local bus services in England
- Designed to support UK tourism and hospitality businesses
Why does the temporary VAT reduction matter?
For tourism and hospitality businesses, the summer months are among the most important trading periods of the year. At the same time, businesses and consumers continue to face pressure from rising costs and economic uncertainty. Against this backdrop, the Government has announced the Great British Summer Savings Scheme, a temporary VAT reduction designed to make family days out and leisure activities more affordable whilst supporting UK tourism and hospitality businesses.
From a business perspective, this is a targeted measure that aims to encourage spending where it can have the greatest impact. By reducing the VAT charged on qualifying admissions, tickets and meals, the Government hopes to stimulate domestic tourism and help businesses attract more customers during the summer season.
What is the Great British Summer Savings Scheme?
The scheme temporarily reduces VAT from 20% to 5% on certain qualifying supplies between 25 June 2026 and 1 September 2026. The relief is intended to support families and encourage spending within the UK economy, particularly in sectors that rely heavily on visitor numbers and discretionary spending.
Importantly, HMRC has published detailed guidance on which supplies qualify, giving businesses greater certainty about how the temporary reduction should be applied.
What's included in the temporary VAT reduction?
Eligible attractions
The reduced 5% VAT rate applies to admission charges for a wide range of family-focused attractions, including:
- Theme parks
- Amusement parks
- Water parks
- Adventure parks
- Fairs
- Zoos
- Aquariums
- Wildlife parks
- Farm visitor attractions
- Museums where admission is normally subject to VAT
- Heritage attractions
- Nature reserves
- Botanical gardens
- Soft play centres
- Indoor play facilities
- Circuses
- Observation attractions
- Planetariums
For many visitor attractions, this presents an opportunity to offer better value and encourage more family visits during the summer holidays.
Children's tickets
The reduced rate also applies to qualifying children’s admission tickets for:
- Cinemas
- Theatres
- Concerts
- Shows
- Exhibitions
One particularly positive aspect of the scheme is that where a family ticket includes at least one qualifying child admission, the reduced VAT rate can apply to the entire family ticket, including the adult admissions within that package.
Children's meals
The temporary 5% rate also applies to qualifying children’s meals sold by restaurants, cafés and similar establishments.
Generally, the meal must:
- Be specifically marketed as a children’s meal
- Appear as a children’s menu option
- Be consumed on the premises
Children’s meal deals that include items such as a drink or dessert may also qualify where they are sold as part of a children’s meal package.
Free bus travel for children
Alongside the temporary VAT reduction, the Government has announced free bus travel for children aged 5 to 15 across participating local bus services in England throughout August 2026. While this measure sits outside the VAT scheme itself, it forms part of the wider Great British Summer Savings initiative. By reducing the cost of travel, the Government hopes to make family days out more affordable and encourage more people to visit attractions, hospitality venues and leisure destinations across the country.
For tourism and hospitality businesses, this additional support could help increase visitor numbers by removing one more cost barrier for families planning summer activities.
What's not included?
While the relief covers a broad range of family-focused activities, there are some important exclusions.
The reduced rate does not generally apply to:
- Smaller portions of adult meals
- Discounted adult meals
- Shared meals
- Takeaway children’s meals
- Admission to sporting events
- Participation in sporting activities
- Use of sports facilities
Goods, merchandise and other supplies sold separately from qualifying admissions or meals will generally continue to follow their existing VAT treatment. As with any VAT measure, businesses should review the detailed HMRC guidance and seek advice where there is uncertainty about how the rules apply to their specific circumstances.
Why is this good news for tourism and hospitality businesses?
It’s not often that businesses are presented with an opportunity to offer customers a meaningful reduction in VAT while also benefiting from a government-backed initiative designed to stimulate demand. For many tourism and hospitality operators, this feels like a practical response to difficult trading conditions.
When households are watching their spending carefully, making family experiences more affordable can encourage people to visit attractions, book activities and eat out more often. Combined with ongoing efforts to promote UK tourism, the scheme could help keep more leisure spending within the domestic economy.
The benefits are also likely to extend far beyond the tourism and hospitality sectors themselves. Visitor attractions, restaurants, cafés and entertainment venues form part of a much wider local economic ecosystem. When more families choose to spend money on UK day trips and holidays, that additional spending supports accommodation providers, retailers, transport operators, suppliers and many other local businesses.
The Government’s decision to introduce free bus travel for children throughout August reinforces this wider objective. By reducing both the cost of attractions and the cost of getting there, the scheme aims to encourage more families to explore the UK and support local businesses during the summer season.
In areas such as Cornwall, where tourism plays a significant role in the local economy, a successful summer season can create a ripple effect that benefits businesses of all types. Even organisations that do not directly qualify for the VAT reduction may still see increased demand as visitor numbers and consumer spending grow.
Of course, implementing a temporary VAT change will involve some administration. Businesses may need to update booking systems, tills, accounting software and pricing structures to ensure the correct VAT treatment is applied.
However, many owners are likely to view this as a worthwhile trade-off. A temporary 15 percentage point reduction in VAT is significant, and even a modest increase in customer numbers could outweigh the administrative effort required to implement the change.
What should business owners do now?
If your business may be affected by the scheme, now is a good time to:
- Review whether your admissions, tickets or meals qualify
- Check that accounting and point-of-sale systems can accommodate the temporary rate
- Consider how the reduction fits into your pricing and marketing strategy
- Plan ahead for the return to standard VAT rates after 1 September 2026
Early preparation can help ensure a smooth implementation and reduce the risk of errors once the temporary relief takes effect.
FAQs: Temporary hospitality VAT reduction 2026
The relief applies from 25 June 2026 until 1 September 2026.
No. The reduced rate only applies to specific qualifying admissions, tickets and children’s meals covered by the scheme.
Pricing decisions remain a commercial decision for each business. Some may choose to pass on savings directly, while others may take a different approach depending on their circumstances.
Many businesses are likely to need updates to accounting software, booking platforms or point-of-sale systems to ensure the correct VAT treatment is applied.
Where a family ticket includes at least one qualifying child admission, the reduced VAT rate can apply to the entire family ticket, including the adult admissions within that package
No. Takeaway children’s meals are generally excluded from the temporary reduction.
Many businesses may choose to incorporate the temporary reduction into their pricing and promotional activity to encourage bookings and visitor numbers during the summer period.
Need support navigating temporary VAT changes?
The Great British Summer Savings Scheme could provide a valuable opportunity for tourism and hospitality businesses to attract more customers and strengthen summer trading.
If you’re new to Harland, book a free discovery call to explore how we can support you with values-aligned financial strategy, growth planning to fuel your impact, and advisory support that helps you make confident, well-timed decisions.
Already a client? Get in touch with your Client Manager or email info@harlandaccountants.co.uk to talk through how these temporary VAT changes may affect your business.
