On 21st May 2026, the Government announced that a temporary reduced rate of VAT would apply to some family events and attractions over the summer months from 25 June 2026 to 1 September 2026. This may be relevant if your charity:

• Provides children’s meals in restaurants and cafes;
• Sells children’s tickets for the cinema, theatre, shows and concerts; or
• Charges for admission (to children and adults) to a range of attractions including museums, zoo, wildlife parks, soft play areas and observation attractions.

More detail on what exactly is included can be found in Revenue and Customs Brief 5 (2026). This includes comments on what is a children’s meal, how to work out the value of children’s tickets where they are sold as part of a family package.

Key points to consider will be:

• Whether you pass the benefit of the reduced VAT to customers by reducing the price of items or retain the benefit by keeping the pricing the same but declaring 5% VAT to HMRC
• Whether you can update systems in time to implement the change and whether it is financially viable to do so
• How to apportion mixed supplies; and
• Making sure your attraction is one of those listed in the announcement and any subsequent legislation.
• Whether lower ticket prices could have any impact on donation income or visitor behaviour, particularly where admission fees are linked to voluntary contributions or Gift Aid.
• Whether you need to review existing bookings, advance ticket sales or pricing already advertised, as adjustments or customer communications may be required where VAT has already been applied at the standard rate.
• If you are eligible to treat entrance fees as exempt through applying the cultural exemption, you will not be able to apply the reduced rate of VAT, even if by doing so you may find that you are better financial position by being able to reclaim VAT on your expenditure.
  In practice, this means many charities using the cultural exemption will see no direct VAT change, although the measure may still affect competitors and customer expectations.

Charities might also want to consider how to communicate any pricing decisions, as there may be an expectation from customers and stakeholders that VAT savings are passed on, and there may be an expectation around the transparency whether savings are fully passed onto consumers.

We will of course update you as any new details on this emerge and if we identify any issues which are relevant to charities.