Takeaway menu leaflets are usually zero-rated (0% VAT) in the UK. HMRC weighs these characteristics together rather than ticking them off: A single sheet, A4 or smaller (or up to A2 printed both sides and folded down to A4); held and read, not hung up or displayed; printed on limp paper, not laminated; at least 50 copies; complete in itself, and either short-lived or supplied with something else; no more than a quarter of it to fill in or tear off, and never returned whole (HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 3.3).
PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL
Through the door and into the recycling.Zero-rated.I'll have the soup.
Takeaway menu leaflets
0% VAT
A takeaway menu pushed through doors counts as a leaflet when it meets the leaflet conditions: picked up, read, binned. Zero-rated on that basis, not because it is a menu.
HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 3.3
0% where it's:
A single sheet, A4 or smaller (or up to A2 printed both sides and folded down to A4)
Held and read, not hung up or displayed
Printed on limp paper, not laminated
At least 50 copies
Complete in itself, and either short-lived or supplied with something else
No more than a quarter of it to fill in or tear off, and never returned whole
Need these printed?
Tell Tenfold the quantity, size and deadline. We'll put together a quote for your job.
A takeaway menu is only zero-rated because of the shape it arrives in, not because it is a menu. HMRC lists menu cards as standard-rated. A single sheet pushed through a letterbox, printed on limp paper, in enough quantity for general distribution, read once and binned, has every characteristic of a leaflet, and that is what earns the zero rate. Reprint the same design on board for the table, or laminate it so it survives a greasy thumb, and it becomes the menu card the notice names, because laminated items are treated as designed to be kept.
What decides it?
Where it ends up. Through the door and into the recycling is a leaflet. On the table is a menu card.
When would takeaway menu leaflets be charged at 20% VAT?
HMRC judges this as a matter of fact and impression, weighing these together rather than ticking them off: a single sheet, a4 or smaller (or up to a2 printed both sides and folded down to a4); held and read, not hung up or displayed; printed on limp paper, not laminated; at least 50 copies; complete in itself, and either short-lived or supplied with something else; no more than a quarter of it to fill in or tear off, and never returned whole. Missing one does not settle it by itself, and the further an item sits from them the harder it is to call it a leaflet. Two of them are rules rather than indicators: lamination takes it out, and so does being designed to be returned whole after completion.
Is the design and artwork for takeaway menu leaflets zero-rated too?
If your printer does the design, typesetting or finishing as part of the same zero-rated print job, that work can be zero-rated too. Design bought separately from a studio is a standard-rated service.
Where does this come from?
HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 3.3, HMRC's guidance on zero rating books and printed matter. See the notices we work from.
Some real jobs
10,000 A5 menus on 100gsm for a door drop0%
Single sheet, limp paper, distributed in quantity, short-lived. A leaflet.
50 laminated A4 menus for the tables20%
Laminated items are treated as designed to be kept, and menu cards are listed as standard-rated.
A folded A3 menu, printed both sides, folding to A5, for a door drop0%
Inside the A2 allowance because it is printed both sides and folds below A4.
