Gift cards: a UK compliance guide for salons

Gift cards are one of the highest-margin products a salon sells, the customer often forgets to redeem, and even when they do, the recipient tends to spend beyond the card value. But the compliance side is surprisingly full of small traps.

Expiry, you can set one, within limits

There is no statutory minimum in the UK, but consumer bodies expect at least 12 months, and 24 is standard. Anything shorter is likely to be judged unreasonable under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. State the expiry clearly on the card itself and on the receipt at point of sale.

VAT, accounted on redemption, not sale

For a single-purpose voucher (services in your salon only), VAT is due at the point of sale. For a multi-purpose voucher (redeemable across a group or on both products and services), VAT is due on redemption. Most independent salons sell single-purpose vouchers; if you sell across a group of businesses you are almost certainly multi-purpose and need to structure accordingly.

The change-vs-refund rule

You are not obliged to give cash change or a cash refund on a gift card. You can hold the remaining balance and let the customer redeem later. This must be stated on the card. What you cannot do is void the balance unilaterally, that is a Consumer Rights Act breach.