Beverages sold as meal replacements are zero rated

In Revenue and Customs Brief 6/2021  HMRC states that products designed specifically as complete meal replacements can be zero rated. This is in light of the Upper Tribunal decision in CRC v The Core (Swindon) Ltd [2020] UKUT 301 (TCC) which concerned the sale of juice cleanse programmes.

In this case based mainly on the fact that the juice cleanse programmes were marketed as meal replacements the First-tier Tribunal had found that the juice cleanse programmes were bought as meal replacements not as beverages and so were zero rated.

The Upper Tribunal dismissed HMRC’s appeal although it did confirm that in all cases involving classification for VAT purposes it is necessary to carry out a multifactorial assessment. In effect it endorsed a fact specific stance rather than the more expansive approach taken by the First-tier Tribunal.

Since the decision...