Is there VAT on restaurant, cafe or bar printing?

Q: Is there VAT on restaurant, cafe or bar printing?

Some of it. Usually 0% VAT: takeaway menu leaflets. Usually 20% VAT: table menu cards, cups, bags and greaseproof paper, aprons and staff uniform, food and packaging labels, shop and pavement signs, loyalty cards, vouchers and coupons, table talkers and point of sale, posters, branded pens and mugs. Depends on the job: menus.

Some of it. It depends on the item, not the occasion, so one job can have both rates on the same invoice.

Table for one, please. And the standard rate on the menus.

Printing for a restaurant, cafe or bar

Some 0%, some 20%

Here's the usual print for a restaurant, cafe or bar. Tap any item to see why it's 0% or 20%.

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Menus ?

HMRC treats table menu cards as standard-rated, but a takeaway menu posted through doors is a leaflet.

Takeaway menu leaflets 0%

A takeaway menu pushed through doors is a leaflet: picked up, read, binned. Zero-rated.

Table menu cards 20%

HMRC lists menu cards as standard-rated. They're kept and used on the table, not read and thrown away.

Cups, bags and greaseproof paper 20%

Packaging and wrapping aren't reading matter, so they're standard-rated.

Aprons and staff uniform 20%

Clothing is standard-rated. The zero rate for print only covers paper and card, and the separate zero rate for clothing only covers young children's clothes.

Food and packaging labels 20%

HMRC lists stickers, labels and tags as standard-rated.

Shop and pavement signs 20%

The zero rate only covers paper and card. Fabric, vinyl, PVC, foamboard and the like are standard-rated.

Loyalty cards 20%

Anything that gets you in, gets you money off or has a value of its own is standard-rated.

Vouchers and coupons 20%

Anything that gets you in, gets you money off or has a value of its own is standard-rated.

Table talkers and point of sale 20%

Point-of-sale and display items are standard-rated. They're for display, not for reading in the hand.

Posters 20%

Anything made to go on a wall or be displayed is standard-rated. The zero rate is for things you hold and read.

Branded pens and mugs 20%

Merchandise isn't printed matter in the VAT sense, so it's standard-rated.