The standard 20% VAT rate on attraction tickets drops to 5% from 25 June 2026. This is not a broad leisure sector cut. It applies to specific attraction types, for a fixed window, under conditions that depend heavily on how you market and price your tickets. Get it wrong and you either overcharge customers or undercharge HMRC.
This article covers every condition set out in HMRC’s Revenue and Customs Brief 5 (2026) (gov.uk, 21 May 2026), so you know exactly where you stand before the window opens.
To add a attractions specific VAT category at the new 5% rate in VenueSumo, login in to the Backoffice portal. Go to Finance > Tax Categories and click + New Tax Category. In the Name field add “VAT Attractions” and in the Taxable field add “5%”. Go to your ticket production configruation and update the Tax Category field from “VAT” to “VAT Attractions” to ensure that the new rate is calcuating correctly on your ticket related products only. For further information on how to change this please contract VenueSumo support.
What changed and why
On 21 May 2026, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the Great British Summer Savings scheme in a Ministerial Statement to the House of Commons. The scheme reduces VAT from 20% to 5% on selected family-facing supplies during the school summer holiday period. According to the government’s published fact sheet (gov.uk/government/news/great-british-summer-savings-vat-slashed-to-save-families-money-on-days-out), the package costs approximately £300 million and will be funded partly through reforms to the foreign branches exemption for multinational companies.
The reduced rate runs from 25 June 2026 to 1 September 2026, inclusive. It applies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (HMRC Brief 5, 2026, “Who this applies to”).
The scheme covers three categories: children’s meals in restaurants, children’s and family tickets for cinemas, theatres and shows, and admission tickets for a defined list of family attractions. This article focuses on the attractions category, which is the broadest of the three and the one with the fewest conditions attached.
Which attractions qualify?
The reduced rate applies to admission for any customer, regardless of age, to qualifying attraction types. This is the key difference between attractions and the other two categories. For a theatre or cinema, only children’s and family tickets qualify. For a qualifying attraction, all admission tickets qualify, as confirmed in HMRC Brief 5 (2026): “The reduced rate will apply to tickets for all customers for attractions set out within this brief.”
HMRC’s brief lists the qualifying attraction types as (HMRC Brief 5, 2026, “Attractions and soft play”):
- Amusement parks and fairs, including water parks and theme parks, but excluding pay-per-ride attractions.
- Circuses.
- Adventure parks, including outdoor adventure centres.
- Museums and similar cultural facilities, including planetariums, heritage sites, nature reserves and botanical gardens.
- Zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks and farm visitor attractions.
- Soft play centres, indoor bounce parks and indoor play facilities.
- Observation attractions, including viewing platforms, towers and observation wheels.
If your venue falls within one of these categories, your admission charge qualifies for the 5% rate during the relief period. You do not need to offer a children’s ticket or a family ticket. You charge 5% on all admission.
What does not qualify?
Sport is excluded. HMRC Brief 5 (2026) states: “The reduced rate does not apply to sport, including charges for spectating and for participating in sport or physical recreation.” This covers spectating at sports events, using sports facilities, and participation in recreational sport. Some sport and physical recreation may already be exempt under VAT Notice 701/45, but the summer reduction does not extend this relief further.
Pay-per-ride attractions at amusement parks are excluded even where the wider park qualifies. The brief specifies “amusement parks and fairs, including water parks and theme parks (excluding pay-per-ride attractions).” The park admission charge qualifies; individual ride charges do not.
Goods and services sold separately at a qualifying attraction, such as food, merchandise, or upgrades, are not covered. HMRC Brief 5 (2026) is explicit: “The reduced rate applies to the charge for the right of admission only. Goods or services supplied separately… remain subject to their normal VAT treatment.”
Admissions already exempt from VAT, for example because they are supplied by a qualifying charity or other eligible body, are not affected. The relief targets standard-rated supplies only (HMRC Brief 5, 2026, “Attractions and soft play”).
Season tickets and repeat-entry passes
This is the area most likely to create practical problems for attraction operators.
A season ticket or multi-entry pass does not qualify for the 5% rate unless it is priced the same as a standard single-entry ticket. HMRC Brief 5 (2026) states: “a weekly or season pass allowing multiple visits beyond the relief period will not qualify where it is priced higher than a standard single-entry ticket.” The logic is that a pass covering visits outside the relief window represents a supply extending beyond the qualifying period.
A repeat-entry ticket valid only within the relief window does qualify. The brief confirms: “Repeat entry tickets solely for use within the relief period will qualify for the relief.” So a two-week pass valid from 25 June to 8 July qualifies. An annual pass does not, unless it is priced identically to a single-day entry.
Practically, this means you should not apply the 5% rate to your standard season tickets. Consider whether to create a time-limited summer pass priced at single-entry rates that would qualify, but take tax advice before doing so.
Prepayments and time-of-supply rules
The reduced rate applies to supplies of admission for a date falling between 25 June and 1 September 2026 (HMRC Brief 5, 2026, “Time of supply”). A ticket purchased today for entry on 3 July qualifies. A ticket purchased in July for entry on 15 September does not; that admission falls after the relief window and remains standard-rated at 20%.
HMRC’s brief includes an important provision on prepayments: “Where supplies are paid for in advance, businesses may opt to apply the lower rate of VAT on the supply in keeping with the existing change of rate provisions. This will apply to all prepayments, including those which may have taken place in advance of the announcement” (HMRC Brief 5, 2026, “Time of supply”).
If you have already accounted for VAT at 20% on a prepayment for an admission that falls within the relief window, you can make an adjustment in your VAT accounts. The brief adds: “The Government would expect that where a customer has prepaid that they would be refunded for any additional VAT paid.”
For detailed guidance on tax points and change-of-rate provisions, refer to VAT Notice 700 (VAT guide), as directed by HMRC Brief 5 (2026).
Theatres and cinemas: the different rule
Operators of cinemas, theatres, exhibitions, shows and concerts face a narrower version of the relief. The 5% rate does not apply to all admission tickets. It applies only to tickets marketed and sold as children’s tickets, and to family tickets that include at least one child admission (HMRC Brief 5, 2026, “Children’s theatre and cinema tickets”).
The brief defines a children’s ticket as one “held out for sale only as a right of admission for a child, based on how it is marketed, priced and presented by the supplier.”
A standalone adult ticket at a cinema or theatre remains standard-rated at 20%.
A family ticket sold as a single price for two adults and two children qualifies in full. HMRC Brief 5 (2026) confirms: “Where a ticket is held out for sale as a right of admission for a family which includes one or more children, the reduced rate applies to the whole ticket, including any adult admissions included within that package.”
Group or multi-person tickets not marketed as family admissions do not qualify.
If your venue sells only standard admission and does not offer a separately marketed children’s ticket, you cannot apply the 5% rate to any tickets. The brief gives a direct example: “If a venue sells only standard admission tickets and does not offer tickets marketed as children’s admissions. All tickets remain standard-rated.”
How the marketing test works
For cinemas, theatres and children’s meals, whether the reduced rate applies depends on how the supply is held out for sale, not who ends up using it. HMRC Brief 5 (2026) states: “Whether a supply falls within those categories depends on how it is held out for sale, including how it is marketed, priced and presented.”
This matters in practice. If you add a children’s pricing tier to your website and call it a children’s ticket with a dedicated lower price, that ticket qualifies. If you simply discount the standard ticket by a percentage on the day, it does not qualify.
For attractions on the full qualifying list, this marketing test does not apply in the same way. All admission qualifies regardless of how it is priced or presented, because the relief covers the attraction type itself.
What operators need to do before 25 June
Check your ticketing system. The system needs to apply 5% VAT to qualifying admissions from 25 June and revert to 20% from 2 September. If you sell tickets for future dates, you may need to apply different rates depending on the admission date at the point of sale.
Review prepayments. Identify any bookings already taken for admissions between 25 June and 1 September at the 20% rate. Decide whether to adjust your VAT accounting and issue refunds. HMRC expects businesses to refund customers who have prepaid at the higher rate (HMRC Brief 5, 2026, “Time of supply”), though the language in the brief is permissive rather than mandatory.
Confirm your attraction category. Verify your venue falls within one of the qualifying types in HMRC Brief 5 (2026). If your venue combines qualifying and non-qualifying activities, contact VAT general enquiries (gov.uk/contact/hm-revenue-customs/vat-enquiries) or take professional advice before the window opens.
Review bundled ticket products. Where admission is sold with meals, merchandise, or other goods at a single price, normal VAT rules on mixed supplies apply. Only the admission element may benefit from the reduced rate (HMRC Brief 5, 2026, “Bundles and mixed supplies”). Separate the components or take advice on apportionment.
Do not apply the reduced rate to sport, pay-per-ride charges, or standard season tickets. All three are explicitly excluded in HMRC Brief 5 (2026).
The cultural exemption interaction
Some attractions and cultural venues are already exempt from VAT under the cultural exemption, covered in VAT Notice 701/47. Museums and cultural facilities operated by qualifying bodies, for example certain charities or local authorities, may charge no VAT at all on admissions.
HMRC Brief 5 (2026) is clear: the qualifying attraction list applies “unless that admission is already exempt from VAT (for example because it is supplied by a qualifying charity or other eligible body).” If your admissions are currently exempt, the Great British Summer Savings scheme does not apply to you. You continue to apply the exemption as normal.
The relief only targets supplies that are currently standard-rated.
Statutory status
HMRC’s brief notes the reduced rate “will be introduced by statutory instrument.” As of the publication date (21 May 2026), the brief “reflects the law as it is expected to apply once enacted.” The statutory instrument had not yet been made and come into force at the time of publication (HMRC Brief 5, 2026, “Purpose of this brief”).
Operators should monitor HMRC’s guidance at gov.uk for confirmation that the statutory instrument has come into force before applying the 5% rate.
Primary source: HMRC Revenue and Customs Brief 5 (2026), published 21 May 2026. Full text: gov.uk/government/publications/revenue-and-customs-brief-5-2026-temporary-reduced-rate-of-vat-for-childrens-meals-tickets-and-family-attractions/temporary-reduced-rate-of-vat-for-childrens-meals-tickets-and-family-attractions
Secondary source: Great British Summer Savings fact sheet, published 21 May 2026. Full text: gov.uk/government/news/great-british-summer-savings-vat-slashed-to-save-families-money-on-days-out
Frequently asked questions
Does the 5% rate apply to all tickets at a theme park?
Yes. HMRC Brief 5 (2026) includes theme parks within the qualifying attraction category (“amusement parks and fairs, including water parks and theme parks”). The 5% rate applies to all admission tickets regardless of the customer’s age. Individual pay-per-ride charges are excluded.
Does a zoo need to offer a children’s ticket to benefit?
No. Zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks and farm visitor attractions qualify on the basis of attraction type (HMRC Brief 5, 2026, “Attractions and soft play”). All admission charges qualify, not just children’s tickets.
My theatre charges adult and children’s rates. Which qualifies?
Only children’s tickets and family tickets qualify for theatres (HMRC Brief 5, 2026, “Children’s theatre and cinema tickets”). Adult-only tickets remain at 20%. A family ticket that includes at least one child admission qualifies in full.
We sold annual passes in April for visits throughout 2026. Can we apply 5% to summer admissions covered by those passes?
No. Annual passes priced above the single-entry rate do not qualify. HMRC Brief 5 (2026) states that a pass “will not qualify where it is priced higher than a standard single-entry ticket.”
We have taken advance bookings for July at 20% VAT. Do we have to refund the difference?
You may opt to apply the 5% rate to those prepayments and adjust your VAT accounts. HMRC Brief 5 (2026) states the government “would expect” businesses to refund customers who prepaid at the higher rate, but uses permissive rather than mandatory language.
Does the reduced rate apply to a museum run by a charity?
Only if the museum’s admissions are currently standard-rated. If they are already exempt under VAT Notice 701/47 (the cultural exemption), the relief does not apply (HMRC Brief 5, 2026, “Attractions and soft play”). If they are standard-rated, the 5% rate applies during the relief window.
When does the reduced rate end?
The relief ends on 1 September 2026. Any admission from 2 September onwards is standard-rated at 20%, regardless of when the ticket was purchased (HMRC Brief 5, 2026, “Time of supply”).
