M&S tea-cake case returns to ECJ

M&S tea-cake case returns to ECJ

Law Lords again ask European Courts of Justice to decide if M&S is entitled to £3.5m VAT rebate

The House of Lords has reluctantly admitted that the European Courts of
Justice will have to decide whether Mark & Spencer is entitled to a VAT
rebate on the sale of its chocolate-covered tea-cakes.

Five law lords in London ‘reluctantly’ stated on Friday that an earlier
decision by the ECJ had not clarified EU law sufficiently for them to decide
whether M&S was entitled to repayment of £3.5m charged on its teacakes for
more than a decade. The case has therefore been taken to the ECJ for a second
time.

HM Customs & Excise had classified the M&S teacake as a chocolate
biscuit, forcing the firm to pay a ‘standard’ tax, rather than cakes which
should have been zero-rated. The courts will decide which is the correct
classification.

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata
Professional Services

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine
Accounting Firms

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021
Making Tax Digital

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource