Yard of Jaffa Cakes

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Yard of Jaffa Cakes

Is that a yard side-by-side or a yard stacked up?

Surely you don't pay VAT on Jafa Cakes as they are exempt?

James & Cowper - Chartered Accountants said:
Next time you have a visit from the VAT man, don't offer him a Jaffa cake!
The trouble all started back in 1973 when the UK Government replaced the old purchase tax with VAT. For obvious political reasons they did not want to put VAT on a number of socially sensitive items like food. At the same time they did not want to see the tax yield drop.

So they put VAT on those 'sin foods' that had always been subject to purchase tax. The list of these items reads like an extract from the recent parliamentary report on obesity: ice cream, alcoholic and many soft drinks, crisps and, last but not least, confectionery.

Explaining the VAT rules on confectionery is a bit like explaining the rules of cricket to a Martian (or for Stargate fans, a Jaffar). Confectionery is subject to VAT unless it is a cake or a biscuit. There is no VAT on the sale of a cake, unless you buy it as part of a meal in a café. Nor is there any VAT on the sale of a biscuit, unless it is wholly or partly covered in chocolate 'or some product similar in taste and appearance'. This was the background to the famous Jaffa cake case. United Biscuits said the Jaffa cake was a cake, which meant the chocolate did not matter. Customs said it was a chocolate covered biscuit and should be subject to VAT. The Tribunal agreed with United Biscuits.
 
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just to inform you jaffa cake lovers[me included], they are not fattening. problem with them, is you cannot ever just eat one. for a cake/biscuit, they are good on calories;) (y)
 
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