The Core (Swindon) v HMRC

Cathya Djanogly

In The Core (Swindon) v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 741 (17 December 2018) the FTT found that products sold as part of a ‘juice cleanse programme’ (JCP) were not beverages and therefore fell within the food exemption (VATA 1994 Sch 8 Group 1).

The Core is a juice bar and health café which offers JCPs which consist of fresh drinkable products made from juicing raw fruits and vegetables. The JCPs are run over multiple days. For instance a customer will undertake a five-day JCP during which meals are replaced by JCP juices and smoothies with four servings per day.

The issue was whether the JCPs were subject to the standard rate (outside the food exemption) as excepted item 4 of Sch 8 Group 1. This depended on whether the products sold by The Core were beverages.

The FTT found that purchasers of the JCPs purchase them as...

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