VAT on takeaway pizza: the UK hot food rule explained
In the UK, hot takeaway pizza is standard-rated at 20% VAT, exactly like a pizza eaten in. Anything served for eating on your premises is 20% too. Cold food sold to take away is generally zero-rated, so a chilled take-and-bake pizza can be 0%. Soft drinks and alcohol are 20% everywhere, and a delivery charge follows the food it goes with.
The VAT table for a UK pizza takeaway
Unlike most of Europe, the UK does not ask “eat-in or takeaway?” first. It asks “is it hot?”. If the answer is yes, the pizza is 20% wherever it is eaten.
| What you sell | Eat-in | Collection | Your own delivery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot pizza, garlic bread, wings, chips | 20% | 20% | 20% |
| Cold pizza slice, cold salad, tiramisu | 20% | 0% | 0% |
| Chilled take-and-bake pizza, raw dough balls | 20% | 0% | 0% |
| Cans of soft drink, bottled water | 20% | 20% | 20% |
| Beer, wine, cider | 20% | 20% | 20% |
| Delivery charge | — | — | follows the food |
HMRC VAT Notice 709/1, Catering and takeaway food. Rates as of October 2026.
Why takeaway pizza isn’t zero-rated like groceries
Most food in the UK is zero-rated. Two things take it out of that zero rate: being supplied in the course of catering (anything consumed on your premises, including tables outside you control), and being hot takeaway food.
The “hot food” test
Hot means above ambient air temperature at the moment you hand it over. Since 2012, HMRC treats takeaway food as standard-rated if it meets any one of these: it was heated so it can be eaten hot, it is kept hot after cooking, it is supplied in heat-retaining packaging, it is advertised or marketed as hot, or it is heated to order. A pizza cooked to order and boxed to keep warm ticks almost every box. Domino’s argued at tribunal that its delivered pizzas should be zero-rated and lost.
When a pizza business can sell at 0%
Cold food to take away is generally zero-rated, which opens two legitimate lines:
- Take-and-bake pizzas: raw or part-baked, chilled, boxed for the customer to cook at home. Food the customer has to prepare is not catering, whether collected or delivered.
- Cold slices or salads sold from a chiller to take away. Reheat a slice before handing it over and it becomes 20%.
Drinks: 20% almost everywhere
In most EU countries drinks are where the rate changes. In the UK they rarely do: soft drinks, bottled water, juice (as a beverage) and alcohol are standard-rated whether you serve them or sell them sealed to take away. Selling alcohol to take away also needs a premises licence that covers off-sales, which is a licensing question rather than a VAT one.
Licences you need to open a pizza takeaway
Does charging for delivery change the VAT?
No. A delivery charge you make for your own delivery is part of a single supply with the food, so it takes the food’s liability: 20% on hot pizza, 0% on a chilled take-and-bake order. The £2.50 you add for delivery on a hot order therefore includes about £0.42 of VAT.
What you pay is separate. Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats charge you commission as a service, with 20% VAT on top. If you are VAT-registered you reclaim it; if you are not, it is a straight extra cost.
Meal deals: pizza and a drink at one price
For a hot pizza with a can, both are 20%, so a meal deal needs no split. You only need to apportion when a deal mixes rates: for example a take-and-bake pizza (0%) with a bottle of wine (20%). Split the deal price pro rata to the standalone prices. A £14 deal made of a £10 pizza and a £6 bottle becomes £8.75 at 0% and £5.25 at 20%. Set it up once in your EPOS so every receipt splits the same way.
Do you have to register for VAT?
You must register once your taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in any rolling 12 months, or if you expect to pass it in the next 30 days alone. Zero-rated sales count towards the threshold. Below it, you charge no VAT, which gives a small takeaway a 20% price advantage over a registered competitor.
Once registered, many takeaways use the Flat Rate Scheme: you still charge 20% to customers but pay HMRC a fixed percentage of your VAT-inclusive turnover, 12.5% for “catering services including restaurants and takeaways” (16.5% if you count as a limited cost trader, 1 point less in your first year). You can join if your taxable turnover is £150,000 or less, excluding VAT. Making Tax Digital applies to every VAT-registered business, so your till or bookkeeping software must file digitally.
Choosing an EPOS till for a pizzeria
Price from the net, then add VAT
UK menus must show VAT-inclusive prices to consumers, but your margin lives in the net price. Take a margherita with £2.20 of ingredients sold at £12:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Menu price (inc. VAT) | £12.00 |
| VAT at 20% (12 ÷ 6) | £2.00 |
| Net price | £10.00 |
| Ingredient cost | £2.20 |
| Gross profit | £7.80 |
| Food cost % of net | 22% |
A quick shortcut: VAT inside a 20% price is always one sixth of it. If you calculate food cost against £12 instead of £10, you will believe your food cost is 18% when it is really 22%.
Common mistakes
- Zero-rating hot takeaway because “food is zero-rated”. It is 20%, and HMRC has won this argument repeatedly.
- Reheating cold stock and still ringing it up at 0%.
- Forgetting soft drinks are standard-rated even sealed and cold.
- Ignoring the rolling 12 months. The threshold is not your tax year: check it every month.
- Working margins from VAT-inclusive prices, which overstates gross profit by a sixth.
FAQ
Is VAT on takeaway pizza lower than eating in?
No. Hot pizza is 20% whether eaten in, collected or delivered. Only cold food sold to take away, like a chilled take-and-bake pizza, can be zero-rated.
Is cold pizza zero-rated?
Cold pizza sold to take away is generally zero-rated, provided you don’t heat it before handing it over and the customer doesn’t eat it on your premises. Eaten at your tables, it is catering and 20%.
What VAT applies to my delivery charge?
The same as the food it delivers: 20% for hot pizza. Platform commission is a separate service invoiced to you with 20% VAT.
Does Northern Ireland have different rates?
No. Northern Ireland uses the same UK VAT rates for catering and takeaway food.