This is an explanation of how the ordering side handles a real VAT distinction — not tax advice for your specific business. Always check the current treatment with your accountant or HMRC directly; rates and rules do change.
The distinction, in short
In UK VAT rules, hot food consumed on the premises is generally treated differently from the same food taken away cold or to go — eat-in hospitality has historically sat at standard rate, while some takeaway hot food can qualify for a different treatment depending on the specifics. The line isn't "what did you cook," it's "where and how is it being eaten" — which is exactly why the same item can be VAT-treated two different ways depending on how it left the kitchen.
Why this is a per-item problem, not a per-order one
A single order can mix the two: a table adds a takeaway dessert to go alongside food eaten in, or a pickup order includes something consumed at the counter while waiting. Applying one VAT rate to the whole basket either overcharges or undercharges depending on which way you rounded, and it's the kind of small error that only surfaces when a statement doesn't reconcile at the end of the month.
VAT is calculated at item level, not as a flat rate guessed across the whole order — so an eat-in table order and a takeaway order sitting side by side on the same day's report carry the correct treatment each, without a manual adjustment afterwards.
Where eat in fits
Table ordering — a customer scanning a code at their seat and ordering from their own phone, covered in more detail in the Features pages under ordering to the table — is exactly the case where getting the eat-in/takeaway split right matters most, because a single table's bill can include both in the same sitting if someone orders extra to take home.
What shows on the customer's receipt
The receipt reflects whichever treatment actually applied to each line, rather than a single VAT figure for the whole order. If your business is VAT registered, that figure is what appears; if not, receipts simply don't carry a VAT line at all — the setting lives in Settings → Business & VAT in the admin, alongside your business's registered legal name and VAT number.
The reconciliation payoff
The reason this matters day to day isn't the tax return once a year — it's the monthly statement. Item-level VAT means the numbers a bookkeeper pulls at month end already match what was actually charged, rather than needing a manual correction pass across every eat-in order first.
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