Bioconcepts Ltd
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Judgment Date | 15 October 1993 |
| Date | 15 October 1993 |
| Court | Value Added Tax Tribunal |
VAT Tribunal
Zero-rating - Food - Excepted item - Manufactured beverages - Food supplement operating to curb consumer's appetite - Whether excluded from zero-rating - Value Added Tax Act 1983, Sch. 5, Grp. 1, general item 1, excepted item 4 and Note (1).
The issue was whether a slimming food supplement manufactured by the appellant was excluded from zero-rating as food of a kind used for human consumption because it was a manufactured beverage or a product for the preparation of beverages.
The product was launched under the name "Bio-Light" as "a natural detoxifying and slimming food supplement free from artificial additives and preservatives". After initially allowing the substance to be zero-rated, Customs reconsidered and advised the appellant that it should be standard-rated as a dietary supplement. The company appealed against this decision.
The tribunal found as facts that Bio-Light was an opaque brown fluid sold by chemists and health food retailers. It was sold in a bottle and was to be consumed diluted with water as a blend of fruit juices, vitamins, wheatgerm, kelp, cloves, juniper berries, black radish, fenugreek and trace minerals. Instructions stated that the mixture was to be drunk slowly and sipped in small mouthfuls at regular intervals throughout the day. If drunk straight it operated as a violent laxative. In summary, therefore, Bio-Light was a liquid food.
The instructions also stated in precise detail what should be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner to enjoy a healthy lifestyle.
The commissioners contended that the product was a beverage in the ordinary and natural meaning of the word. Looking at what the substance was used for and how it was consumed, it was plainly a beverage or a product for the preparation of a beverage by the addition of water.
The appellant contended that the word beverage meant something which was drunk to slake the thirst and to maintain bodily liquid levels. By contrast, Bio-Light was to be sipped at regular intervals throughout the day to supplement an existing diet. It was a food rather than a manufactured beverage and was therefore entitled to zero-rating.
Held, allowing the company's appeal:
There was no doubt that Bio-Light was a manufactured substance. However, the term "beverage" was not apt to describe all drinkable liquids but rather drinks or liquors which were commonly consumed to increase bodily liquid levels, to slake thirst, to fortify or to give pleasure. Bio-Light did not have the characteristics of liquids that were commonly consumed as it was to be taken together with a recommended diet and sipped slowly, with acute consequences if it was not. The flavour made it palatable but no more.
[The tribunal set out the facts summarised above and continued as follows.]
The...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
GlaxoSmithKline Services Unlimited v R & C Commissioners
...to HM Revenue and Customs) for the respondents. The following cases were referred to in the decision: Bioconcepts Ltd VATNo. 11,287; [1995] BVC 545 C & E Commrs v Ferrero UK Ltd VAT[1997] BVC 408 Edwards v Bairstow ELRTAX[1956] AC 14; 36 TC 207 Innocent Ltd TAX[2010] UKFTT 516 (TC); [2011] ......
-
SiS (Science in Sport) Ltd
...Amalgamated Investment & Property Co Ltd (in liquidation) v Texas Commerce International Bank Ltd ELR[1982] QB 84 Bioconcepts Ltd VAT[1995] BVC 545 C & E Commrs v Beecham Foods Ltd UNK[1972] 1 All ER 498 GUS Merchandise Corp Ltd (1978) VATTR 28 L'Arome International Ltd (in receivership) VA......
-
Kalron Foods Ltd v HM Revenue and Customs
...The following cases were referred to in the judgment: Alpro LtdVAT No. 19,911; [2007] BVC 4,049 Bioconcepts LtdVAT No. 11,287; [1995] BVC 545 Brady v Group Lotus Car Companies plcTAX [1987] BTC 95 Brutus v CozensELR [1973] AC 854 C & E Commrs v Ferrero UK LtdTAX [1997] BTC 5,294 C & E Commr......
-
Chi Drinks Ltd
...Added Tax Act 1994 schedule 8 group 1Sch. 8, Grp. 1. The coconut water met the test of what constituted a beverage in Bioconcepts LtdVAT[1995] BVC 545 ("Bioconcepts"). As it was not milk, it did not fall within any of the overriding exclusions under VATA 1994, Value Added Tax Act 1994 sched......