10 July 2008
In brief
Pringles are not potato crisps and thus are free from VAT, the High Court has ruled. Procter & Gamble (P&G), the makers of the tubed snack, brought the case after the VAT and Duties Tribunal ruled that the Pringle was subject to the standard 17.5% rate of VAT because it was “a potato crisp product”. However, Mr Justice Warren ruled that under the 1994 VAT Act, to be subject to VAT, a product “must be wholly, or substantially wholly, made from the potato”. Pringles do not satisfy this definition since they have a potato content of only about 42%, he said.
