The great tea cakes battle

[JagLover]

I have just received my monthly Vat newsletter, it is not usually that entertaining, but this is funny.

"..A ten year battle estimated to have cost 3.5 million so far has been sent back to the ECJ this month. The battle started, as an argument about whether Tea Cakes were cakes (zero-rated) or chocolate biscuits (standard-rated)."

You couldn't make this up, a ten year court battle over whether Tea cakes are biscuits or cakes.

[pdV6]

Wasn't the definition:

When left out, a cake goes hard whilst a biscuit goes soft.

[TeamD]

Wasn't their a similar argument in court about bagels?

I wonder whether HMC&E, IR etc are on performance related pay considering their zealous approach to "growing" their "business".

[Plotloss]

Surely the Jaffa Cake precedent should have dealt with this in slightly less than 10 years.

[JagLover]

But Jaffa cakes are a different sort of cakes

[yertis]

But Tea Cakes are like enormous buns - totally unlike Chocolate Biscuits...

[yertis]

The way McVities decided the case was to make a Jaffa Cake and a biscuit, 12" in diameter, at which point it was very appparent that the Jaffa Cake was a cake.

[r988]

Tea Cake

Surely its a cake if its called a cake? I don't even know what a Tea cake is though.

[yertis]

Some VAT rules on printing are also inpenetrable. For example, folders are VAT-able, unless they were printed on a day when the sun was shining, or something.

[4WD]

Yes, I think there is a miniscule clue in the name.

[mutt]

r988 said:

Tea Cake Surely its a cake if its called a cake? I don't even know what a Tea cake is though.

But if it was that easy you could just change the name of all biscuits to cake and you'd be laughing.




Hobnob Cake anyone?

[JagLover]

On a more serious note, if any part of the tax system is ripe for a flat tax system it is Vat.

There should be one single rate of vat that applies to every single good or service sold. That really would reduce the admin burden on businesses

[diddyman]

This really takes the cake. I mean biscuit. I mean afternoon tea condiment.

[Mrs trackside]

Funnily enough, this conversation came up at college last night.

Apparently a tea cake is zero rated if it is untoasted. Once it is toasted, it becomes a luxury item and is subject to VAT at 17.5%