Proctor & Gamble will have to pay a tax bill of £100m for past VAT, plus a further £20m a year, after judges ruled that its Pringles snack contains “enough potato content”.
UK law states that “potato crisps, potato sticks, potato puffs and similar products made from the potato, or from potato flour, or from potato starch”, are subject to 15% tax.
The decision by the Court of Appeal overturns the 2008 ruling that the snack was more like a cake or chocolate biscuit than a potato snack.
According to Proctor & Gamble, Pringles contain only 42% potato, but this was deemed sufficient to warrant the hefty tax bill.
