VAT on takeaway food: hot, cold, delivered and meal deals

This guide summarises HMRC's VAT Notice 709/1, Catering, takeaway food, last updated 8 June 2026, plus GOV.UK's VAT rates and registration pages. All were checked on 21 October 2026. VAT is UK-wide, so this applies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Chefzi isn't a tax adviser.

The starting point: most food is zero-rated, catering isn't

GOV.UK's rates guide says food and drink for human consumption is usually zero-rated. The exceptions include catering, hot food, hot takeaways, confectionery, crisps and savoury snacks, soft drinks and mineral water, ice cream and alcoholic drinks. The standard rate is 20%.

HMRC's notice gives three ways a supply becomes "in the course of catering", and so standard-rated:

1. The ordinary meaning of catering: prepared food with a significant element of service. Examples are meals in restaurants, cafés and canteens, event catering, and the delivery of cooked ready-to-eat food or meals.
2. Eating on the premises: food or drink consumed where it's supplied.
3. Hot takeaway food, as defined by the tests below.

What counts as "on the premises"

This matters for any takeaway with a few tables. HMRC defines premises as the area you occupy plus any area set aside for your customers to eat, even if it's shared with other food sellers. For a high street outlet, that includes chairs and tables outside that you provide for customers. In a shopping centre, it includes tables in a shared food court.

It doesn't include general public seating, such as shopping centre benches or a public picnic area that isn't cleaned and cleared by the retailer.

If you sell cold food that some customers eat in and others take away, HMRC says you must split your sales between the two. Eat-in is standard-rated and takeaway is usually zero-rated. Keep evidence that supports a fair split.

HMRC's five tests for hot takeaway food

A takeaway item is standard-rated if it's hot when it's provided to the customer, meaning above the ambient air temperature (HMRC calls this the precondition), and it meets at least one of these tests:

For most pizza shops, kebab shops, chippies, curry houses and Chinese takeaways, the core menu meets several tests at once, so it's standard-rated.

The grey areas are bakery-type items. HMRC's examples say a pasty that's left to cool naturally, sold in a plain paper bag and described as "freshly baked" is zero-rated, even if it's still warm. Put the same pasty under a heat lamp (test 3), or call it "hot" (test 5), and it becomes standard-rated. "Freshly baked" on its own doesn't count as marketing it as hot. That matters for cafés and bakeries and sandwich shops writing their online menu. The words and photos you use can change the VAT on the item.

Two more rules from the notice:

• A microwave for customers: if you let customers heat takeaway food in an oven you provide, before or after the till, the food is standard-rated. That applies whether or not you charge for it.
• Hot and cold in one item: a single item with a hot part is standard-rated as a whole. HMRC's examples include hot dogs, burgers, bacon sandwiches, chip butties, baked potatoes with a cold filling and kebabs.

Meal deals: hot and cold together

If you sell standard-rated and zero-rated items together at one price for eating off the premises, HMRC says you must work out the value of each part and charge VAT on the standard-rated part. HMRC's examples include burger, chips and a milkshake, and a meal made of hot and cold dishes in separate containers. You can apportion on cost or market value, as explained in VAT Notice 700.

HMRC says you're normally making a mixed supply if each item in the deal can also be bought separately from your menu.

Free condiments such as salt, pepper, vinegar and mustard can be ignored.

This is where an online menu helps. If every item in a bundle also has its own price on the menu, the split is easier to evidence.

Delivered food

HMRC's notice lists "delivery of cooked ready-to-eat food or meals (with or without crockery or cutlery)" as an example of catering. GOV.UK's rates guide also says restaurants and takeaway vendors must charge VAT on all hot takeaways and home deliveries. If you charge a separate delivery fee, HMRC points to VAT Notice 700/24, Postage, delivery and direct marketing. Ask your accountant how that applies to your fee.

Food the customer still has to prepare, such as thawing, cooking or reheating it, isn't catering under the notice. That applies whether it's delivered or collected. Some takeaways sell frozen or cook-at-home lines alongside the hot menu, and those can fall under different rules.

When you set a delivery fee, work it out on your VAT-inclusive prices. Our guide on how to set delivery fees and minimum orders shows how.

Service charges and tips

HMRC says a service charge you add is standard-rated. A tip the customer chooses to give on top of your total isn't subject to VAT.

The registration threshold and the flat rate scheme

• Threshold: GOV.UK says you must register if taxable turnover over the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or if you expect it to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days. Zero-rated sales count towards taxable turnover. You can register voluntarily below the threshold.
• Flat Rate Scheme: on GOV.UK's table, "catering services including restaurants and takeaways" has been 12.5% since 1 April 2022. A "limited cost business", one whose spending on goods falls below the limits on that page, pays 16.5%. Ask your accountant whether the scheme suits a business with a lot of zero-rated cold sales.
• Temporary rates: HMRC's notice records a temporary reduced rate for certain children's meals from 25 June to 1 September 2026. That period has ended. Check the notice for current rules before changing a kids' menu price.

What this means for your prices and your margin

VAT changes the margin on every dish. On a £12 hot dish (VAT-inclusive), the VAT at 20% is £2, so you keep £10 before costs. Our restaurant profit margin guide uses net-of-VAT figures for this reason.

Commission adds a second layer. Delivery apps charge commission of on average up to 25% per order, which you can change in the commission calculator. See how delivery app commission works.

Where Chefzi fits

Chefzi is commission-free online ordering for UK restaurants and takeaways. It doesn't decide or file your VAT. You set your own menu prices and wording, which matters given test 5. Every order gets a PDF receipt, and daily sales totals can be exported for your accountant (see receipts and reports). Chefzi's own prices exclude VAT.

Keep the next order

Early Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deal: new sign-ups get 3 months free, with no setup fee. The deal ends at 23:59 on 1 December 2026.

After the free period, Chefzi is £19 a month for cash or no-card ordering, or £29 a month with online card payments through Stripe, per location, excluding VAT. Standard Stripe fees apply. There's no setup fee and no commission. See Chefzi pricing.

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Frequently asked questions

Is takeaway food zero-rated for VAT?

Cold takeaway food usually is, unless it is a type that is always standard-rated, such as crisps, sweets or bottled water. Hot takeaway food that meets any of HMRC's five tests is standard-rated at 20%, and so are hot drinks. Food eaten on your premises, including at your own outside tables, is standard-rated.

What makes takeaway food 'hot' for VAT?

It must be above the ambient air temperature when handed over, and meet at least one test: heated so it can be eaten hot, heated to order, kept hot after heating, supplied in heat-retaining or hot-food packaging, or advertised as hot.

Is food delivery standard-rated?

HMRC's catering notice lists delivery of cooked ready-to-eat food or meals as an example of catering, which is standard-rated. For a separate delivery charge, HMRC points to its notice on postage and delivery (700/24). Ask an accountant how it applies to your menu.

When does a takeaway have to register for VAT?

When taxable turnover over the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or you expect it to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days. You can register voluntarily below that.

What flat rate percentage do takeaways use?

On the VAT Flat Rate Scheme, 'catering services including restaurants and takeaways' has been 12.5% since 1 April 2022. A business that counts as a limited cost business pays 16.5% instead.

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