In Glanbia Milk Ltd v HMRC [2022] UKFTT 108 (TC) (24 March 2022) the FTT decided that products described as flapjacks were not cakes and were therefore subject to VAT at the standard rate rather than the zero rate.
The 28 February 2022 edition of VAT Food Manual at VFOOD6200 includes flapjacks in a list of products HMRC accepts can qualify for the zero rate of VAT as cakes but goes on to explain that although a flapjack was historically accepted as a cake it ‘should probably now be categorized as a cereal bar and therefore standard-rated within the legislation’.
The FTT rejected the contention advanced by the Glanbia Milk Ltd that it need only determine whether the products are flapjacks on the basis that if they are they will necessarily be cakes. The FTT noted that while VATA 1994 Sch 8 Group 1...
