In Supreme Petfoods Ltd v HMRC (TC00896 – 17 January) a company supplied packaged food for ferrets. Initially it accounted for tax on these supplies but it subsequently submitted a repayment claim on the basis that it should have treated the supplies as zero-rated animal feeding stuffs within VATA 1994 Sch 8 Group 1 General Item 2. HMRC rejected the claim on the grounds that the supplies were pet food which was excluded from zero-rating by Group 1 Excepted Item No 6. The Tribunal dismissed the company’s appeal holding that ‘ferrets can be classified generally as a pet species’ notwithstanding that a minority of ferrets were kept as working ferrets (eg to catch rabbits) and not as pets.
Why it matters: Animal feeding stuffs are zero-rated (subject to specific restrictions) but pet food is specifically excluded from zero-rating. The First-Tier Tribunal upheld HMRC’s...
