The UK government is temporarily reducing the VAT rate from 20% to 5% for specific supplies during the summer school holiday period. This change applies from June 25, 2026, to September 1, 2026, inclusive.

The temporary 5% rate applies to certain supplies, including:

• Children’s meals served on-premises at restaurants, cafés, and similar catering establishments. The meal must be explicitly marketed and priced as a children’s meal, such as an item on a dedicated children’s menu.
• Children’s admission tickets to cinemas, theatres, concerts, shows, and exhibitions.
• All admission tickets to qualifying family attractions (theme parks, zoos, soft play, museums, aquariums, adventure parks, and more), regardless of the customer’s age.

The temporary 5% rate does not apply to takeaway children's meals.

For more information, refer to HMRC’s guidance on the temporary reduced rate of VAT for children’s meals, tickets, and family attractions.

What is Lightspeed updating

We are creating two new tax profiles with the following rates:

1. Children Meals Summer 26 - hot:
   • 5% VAT: For dine-in, with a start date of June 25, 2026, and an end date of September 1, 2026.
   • 20% VAT: For all other order profiles and/or outside the above date.
2. Children Meals Summer 26 - cold:
   • 5% VAT: For dine-in, with a start date of June 25, 2026, and an end date of September 1, 2026.
   • 0% VAT: For all other order profiles and/or outside the above date.

We are creating these new tax profiles before June 25, 2026, so you can prepare ahead of time. The tax profiles will continue to use their current VAT rates before June 25, 2026, apply the temporary 5% VAT rate during the eligible date range, and return to their standard rates after September 1, 2026.

The 5% VAT rules for both tax profiles will not apply to any additional order profiles for in-house consumption.

What you need to do

Before June 25, 2026, create new accounting groups for children’s meals and assign your children’s meal items to them:

1. Create two accounting groups: one for hot children’s meals and one for cold children’s meals.
2. Assign each children’s meal item to the correct accounting group.
3. Assign each accounting group to the corresponding new tax profile:
   • Link the hot children’s meals accounting group to Children Meals Summer 26 - hot.
   • Link the cold children’s meals accounting group to Children Meals Summer 26 - cold.

Before opening on June 25, 2026, reload your POS devices to apply your updated tax settings.

For tax guidance on which VAT rate applies to specific items, refer to HMRC guidance on the temporary reduced rate of VAT for children’s meals, tickets, and family attractions, or consult your tax advisor.

VAT updates for UK FAQ

• The UK government is temporarily reducing the VAT rate from 20% to 5% for specific supplies during the summer school holiday period. This includes eligible children’s meals served on-premises, children’s admission tickets to cinemas, theatres, concerts, shows, and exhibitions, and admission tickets to qualifying family attractions.
• The temporary 5% rate applies from June 25, 2026, to September 1, 2026, inclusive.
• No. The temporary 5% rate only applies to eligible children’s meals served on-premises. Takeaway meals aren’t included in this VAT reduction.

• No. For restaurants, the temporary rate only applies to eligible children’s meals served on-premises. The meal must be explicitly marketed and priced as a children’s meal, such as an item on a dedicated children’s menu.

  For tax guidance on which VAT rate applies to specific items, refer to HMRC guidance on the temporary reduced rate of VAT for children’s meals, tickets, and family attractions, or consult your tax advisor.

• No. Lightspeed is creating new tax profiles for the temporary VAT change, but you need to update your items and tax settings.

  You need to create new accounting groups, assign your children’s meal items to the correct accounting groups, link each accounting group to the corresponding new tax profile, and reload your POS devices to apply your updated tax settings.

  For detailed steps, see What you need to do in this article.

• Yes. Lightspeed is creating the new tax profiles before June 25, 2026, so you can prepare ahead of time.

  Before June 25, you can create the new accounting groups, assign your children’s meal items to them, and link each accounting group to the corresponding new tax profile. The tax profiles will continue to use their current VAT rates before June 25, 2026, apply the temporary 5% VAT rate during the eligible date range, and return to their standard rates after September 1, 2026.

  For detailed steps on how to prepare, see What you need to do in this article.