Many of you will have seen and started prepping for the UK government's announcement earlier this month introducing a temporary reduced VAT rate of 5% on children's and family tickets for theatre performances. The scheme runs from 25 June to 1 September 2026, and we want to make sure you have everything you need to take advantage of it.
Who this applies to
HMRC's guidance states that eligibility depends on how a ticket is marketed, priced and presented throughout the purchase journey. A standard ticket sold at a discount, or promoted with family-friendly copy on your website, may not meet that test if it still appears as a standard admission at the point of purchase and in the order record.
In short: if your ticketing setup doesn't have a variant that clearly identifies it as a children's or family admission, those tickets may not be eligible - so check your specific setup with your VAT adviser.
What we've done
We have released an update that will allow you to:
Create a Child or Family ticket variant and apply a 5% VAT rate
Control visibility so it appears only for performances during the qualifying period (either using a dedicated Price Profile or visibility rules on the variant)
Set a reduced VAT rate on fees
This feature is live and available now. Any tickets sold through a properly configured Child or Family variant will qualify for the reduced rate.
What you need to do
Review your current setup, and check your approach with your VAT adviser. If you're running family offers via a discount - for example, a discounted block of four Standard tickets - those will need to be reconfigured using new variants before 25 June. As adult tickets within a family offer are also eligible (when sold as part of a family admission or bundle, not as standalone tickets), you may wish to create a specific variant for use in those offers, to which you can apply the discounted rate and easily identify in your reporting.
Don't forget, current basket validation rules can be leveraged to ensure that the correct ticket combination is purchased for Family offers and bundles.
Tickets already sold
Retroactively applying the reduced rate to advance sales is optional - there is no requirement to do so. If you do choose to pass the saving on to customers who've already booked for performances falling within the scheme window, HMRC's guidance states it would expect the VAT difference to be refunded to the customer rather than retained. To do this, you would need to do an in-seat exchange into your new price variant. Tickets previously sold using a variant that does not specify a child or family admission may not be eligible for the reduced rate regardless, so we would always recommend speaking to your VAT adviser before proceeding.
Adjuster Tax Rates
If you charge a transaction or per-ticket fee as part of a qualifying ticket sale, the VAT treatment of that fee may depend on whether it forms part of the same supply as the ticket. This isn't addressed in HMRC's current guidance, so check with your VAT adviser before applying the reduced rate to any fees. If you do need to set a different rate on a fee, you should create a new adjuster - these are handled separately from variant tax rates.
Please see our updated Knowledge Centre article for guidance on setting the new tax rates to variants and adjusters.
In the meantime, if you have questions please drop a line to the support team.
Important: a note on VAT advice
We're not VAT specialists, and this email is intended to help you understand the practical steps within our platform rather than constitute tax advice. We'd encourage you to review the HMRC guidance directly and speak to your accountant or VAT adviser about your current setup and historical sales.