There has always been a bit of confusion about the hot subject of VAT and fast food.
Hot food can be zero rated only if it is supplied hot but not necessarily intended to be eaten hot. So if you are installing an instore bakery, then your baguettes will be zero rated, but the minute you move into pizzas, jacket potatoes and rotisserie chickens, the standard rate will apply.
There have been a number of tribunals to settle which rate applies and a couple of the points that they have considered relevant are the type of packaging used and palatability. If an item is generally accepted to be unpalatable if sampled cold, then it would indicate a standard rating. If it is packaged to retain heat  as a hot chicken would be - then it also points to standard rating, even though a lot of the chicken might get eaten after it has lived in the fridge for a few days.
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Hot food can be zero rated only if it is supplied hot but not necessarily intended to be eaten hot. So if you are installing an instore bakery, then your baguettes will be zero rated, but the minute you move into pizzas, jacket potatoes and rotisserie chickens, the standard rate will apply.
There have been a number of tribunals to settle which rate applies and a couple of the points that they have considered relevant are the type of packaging used and palatability. If an item is generally accepted to be unpalatable if sampled cold, then it would indicate a standard rating. If it is packaged to retain heat  as a hot chicken would be - then it also points to standard rating, even though a lot of the chicken might get eaten after it has lived in the fridge for a few days.
{{INDEPENDENTS }}
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