Rotisserie chickens hit with VAT rise but pasties get off scot free
ROTISSERIE chickens are among the products that, from today, will be subject to VAT as chancellor George Osborne rolls out his controversial tax reforms.
Though the treasury was forced to U-turn on one aspect of the reform, the so-called pasty tax, it will today extend the 20 per cent tax to food kept hot by heat lamps or hotplates, like rotisserie chicken.
The pasty tax would have evened out VAT liability so all hot food was taxable, but a fierce protest campaign convinced the chancellor to exempt food that was served hot in the process of cooling down.
Stephen Coleclough at PwC warned that making the system more uniform without welfare reform could end up harming the worst off. “Our VAT rates need to be more uniform, but changes need to be aligned with the benefits system,” he said.