Meta description: Check 2026 campsite VAT, the £90,000 registration threshold, business rates and the new England holiday-let rules for farm diversification.
Hello, landowners.
Your pop-up campsite can bring in extra income.
Check the tax and rates position before your first booking.
Your Class BC 60-day right lets you open; this is what HMRC and the Valuation Office do next. Class BC applies in England, subject to its conditions. Check the current legislation. Planning permission, VAT and business rates are separate questions.
Tent pitches are standard rated. That is the rule.
If you provide a tent pitch, or holiday accommodation in a ready-erected tent, charge VAT at the standard rate if you are VAT-registered. The rate in 2026 is 20%.
HMRC confirms this in VAT Notice 709/3, section 6.1 and VATLP14000. If facilities form part of one supply with the pitch, they are standard rated too. This can include showers, food or firewood sold as part of a single pitch package.
Do not apply the 28-day reduced-value rule to a tent pitch. That relief does not apply to holiday accommodation or tent pitches. The temporary 5% and 12.5% hospitality rates ended on 31 March 2022. Normal VAT rules returned on 1 April 2022.
Holiday accommodation in a caravan already sited on a pitch is also standard rated. For VAT, “caravan” includes mobile homes, park homes, touring caravans and static caravans.
Price with VAT in mind from the start. If your advertised pitch fee includes VAT, one sixth of that price is VAT. For example, a £30 VAT-inclusive pitch fee contains £5 VAT, leaving £25 before VAT.
Deposits, cancellations and booking fees
Treat payments for a taxable campsite booking as VAT-aware from the moment you take them.
HMRC says VAT is due when you receive a deposit as advance payment. If a customer cancels and you keep the deposit, VAT remains due. You can reduce the VAT only to the extent that you refund the payment.
Cancellation payments and booking fees follow similar rules. A payment does not become VAT-free just because the guest does not arrive. Read HMRC’s deposit and cancellation guidance, then make your booking terms and accounts match.
The £90,000 line
You must register for VAT if your taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period. You may also need to register if you expect to exceed £90,000 in the next 30 days.
If you cross the threshold on the rolling test, notify HMRC within 30 days of the end of that month. The HMRC registration guide sets out the timing and effective date. The current deregistration threshold is £88,000, subject to HMRC’s conditions.
Count taxable sales from the business, not just tent pitches. A busy season can add up quickly. For example, 50 pitches filled at £30 a night for 60 nights would bring in £90,000 before any other sales. Track your rolling turnover every month. Do not wait for the year-end accounts.
Will the rates man visit?
Do not assume open agricultural land is free from business rates just because your campsite is seasonal or has no permanent buildings.
The Valuation Office Agency’s farm-diversification guidance identifies campsites among seasonal uses of agricultural land. Non-agricultural leisure use may be rateable. Agricultural exemption depends on the actual use of the land, not simply on who owns it. The VOA’s agricultural premises guidance explains the tests. Its farm-diversification guidance explains how non-agricultural uses, including campsites, may be considered.
A campsite does not always become a separate hereditament. If you operate the farm and campsite together, the assessment may instead reflect a non-agricultural part of the wider farm property. If another operator occupies a defined site, a separate assessment may be considered. The facts matter: control, layout, facilities, use and the extent of the site.
Permanent toilet or shower blocks, hardstanding, reception buildings and fixed glamping units can make the campsite use more distinct. But permanence is not the only rating test. Get advice from the VOA or your local council before you assume you will have no rates bill.
The 2026 rating change that helps farm diversification
A new England rule can help some farm businesses that also operate self-catering holiday lets.
The Non-Domestic Rating (Definition of Domestic Property) (England) Order 2026 took effect on 24 July 2026. For qualifying self-catering properties, it waives the previous-year 70-night actual-letting test where the accommodation is operated with a business property used for a different purpose as part of the same operation. It also waives that test for properties containing five or more qualifying self-catering units.
The property must still meet the conditions, including the intention to make it available commercially for at least 140 nights in the following year. For mixed-use operations, the same person or business must operate both businesses. Check the updated England self-catering business-rates guidance before relying on the change.
This can help a qualifying farm diversification that combines self-catering accommodation with a campsite. It does not exempt tent pitches from business rates, and it does not change their VAT treatment. The Order applies in England, not Wales.
Stay temporary, stay unrated
Temporary campsite planning rights do not guarantee a business-rates exemption. Keeping facilities moveable may help you meet planning conditions, but the VOA looks at the actual use and occupation of the property.
Before opening, check the Class BC conditions that apply to your site. They include a 60-day annual limit, no more than 50 pitches, moveable structures, notice to the local planning authority, and on-site toilet and waste facilities. Extra requirements apply in some flood zones. Do not treat a planning allowance as a rates ruling.
For help with the wider licensed camping setup, read Open Sky Adventure’s legal information and land diversification information.
Seven checks before your first booking
- Set your VAT-inclusive prices. At 20% VAT, divide the VAT-inclusive fee by six to identify the VAT element.
- Check turnover monthly. Monitor taxable sales across a rolling 12 months against £90,000.
- Write VAT-aware booking terms. Set out how you handle deposits, cancellations, refunds and booking fees.
- Separate planning from rating. Record your campsite operating dates and check the current planning conditions. Ask the VOA or council how the use may affect your rating assessment.
- Review building plans first. Ask about potential rates before adding permanent facilities or fixed accommodation.
- Check the 2026 England rule. If you combine a campsite with self-catering lets, keep evidence of the required 140-day availability intention and confirm that the mixed-use conditions apply.
- Talk to an accountant before your first booking. Do not wait for your first VAT bill to review your setup.
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