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Supreme Petfoods Ltd v HMRC

Ferret food: whether 'pet food'

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....

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