Cheaper summer tickets for theme parks and museums as Reeves cuts VAT

The UK government will temporarily cut value-added tax on summer attractions from 20% to 5% during the school holidays, part of a package of measures aimed at easing cost-of-living pressures on households.

The reduced rate will apply from the end of June through early September, covering entry to zoos, museums, theme parks, softplay centres and children's theatre tickets, as well as children's meals, the BBC reported ^[1]. Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed the move in a statement to MPs on Thursday ^[2].

Reeves also announced that planned fuel duty increases scheduled for September and December have been postponed ^[2]. The chancellor said she would suspend import tariffs on some foods and told Parliament she expects supermarkets to pass the resulting savings on to customers in full ^[2].

To help offset the cost of the measures, the government will change the "foreign branch profits" regime that governs how multinational oil and gas firms pay tax on their UK operations ^[2]. Reeves said some companies had structured their affairs to pay little or no corporation tax on UK energy trading profits, adding: "Today we are putting an end to that practice" ^[2].

The chancellor pointed to official figures showing the UK economy was the fastest growing in the G7 in the first quarter of the year, at 0.6%, but warned that the conflict in the Middle East posed a significant challenge to the world's economies ^[2]. She declined to detail support plans for the winter when utility bills are expected to rise sharply, restating only that any future scheme would be "targeted and temporary" ^[2].

Additional support for energy-intensive industries was also outlined, including £350m for a critical chemicals resilience fund and £120m for the ceramics sector ^[2]. The temporary VAT reduction on attractions was first reported by the BBC ^[1] and confirmed in the chancellor's statement ^[2].