The Summer Savings Scheme: What the VAT Cut on Kids' Meals and Days Out Means for Families

The UK government has cut the tax (VAT) on children's meals in restaurants and children's tickets to family attractions from 20% to 5% for just over nine weeks this summer. The scheme started on 25 June 2026 and ends on 1 September 2026.

This applies everywhere in the UK — England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. It is a single UK-wide tax rule, not one that varies by nation.

What counts as a children's meal or family attraction?

A children's meal is a meal ordered from a children's menu in a restaurant. The reduced tax rate also covers children's admission tickets to cinemas, zoos, aquariums, theme parks, and similar family attractions. The government published a full list of what qualifies in guidance released on 19 June 2026.

Restaurants and attractions had about five weeks' notice — the scheme was announced in May — so they could update their tills and train staff.

How much will families actually save?

A 15 percentage-point cut in tax makes a real difference. On a £10 children's meal, the saving is about £1.50. On a family day out costing £40 in children's tickets, families will save around £6.

Whether shops and restaurants pass on the full saving to customers is up to them. After a similar VAT cut during the Covid recovery in 2020, some did pass it on in full, but others did not.

Why has the government done this?

The policy is framed around the rising cost of living, which has been a major concern for households over recent years. A summer holiday or a meal out is an expense many families think hard about. A temporary tax cut aims to ease that burden for a few weeks.

The government has chosen to narrow the relief carefully. By cutting tax only on children's meals and children's tickets — not on all restaurant meals or all tickets — it limits the cost to the Exchequer while concentrating help where it thinks it matters most: on family spending.

What happens after 1 September?

Unless the government announces an extension, the tax rate goes back to the standard 20% on 1 September 2026. The scheme is temporary, not permanent.

Why does this scheme matter to a general reader?

If you are a parent planning a summer day out or a meal out with children, you may find things slightly cheaper for the next nine weeks. The amount you save depends on what you spend. But it is time-limited: anyone planning autumn trips will see the standard tax rate return.

For business owners running restaurants and family attractions, the practical task is simple in theory but requires care in practice. They must make sure their tills charge the right rate at the right time. If someone books a trip before 25 June for a date in August, the business needs to apply the reduced rate even though the booking came in early. The tax rules around when a charge counts for VAT purposes can be fiddly, and HMRC has published guidance to help.

This is not the first time the government has used a temporary VAT cut to support a sector. In 2020, during the Covid recovery, it applied a 5% rate to hotel stays and restaurant meals more broadly, before gradually stepping it back up to 20%. The summer 2026 scheme is more tightly drawn — it targets family consumption specifically, rather than the whole hospitality sector.

The scheme runs for just over nine weeks. After that, the standard tax rate applies again unless Parliament votes to extend it.