Focus Summer 2016
Page 13
FAMILY BUTCHERS
5, Market Hill, Clare, Nr. Sudbury, Suffolk
Telephone : Clare (01787) 277294
MEAT GAME POULTRY EGGS
DELICATESSEN CHEESES PIES
Always a fine selection of Locally
Sourced Products
J.R.Humphrey & Sons
Est 1984
Fine selection for Summer Barbecues
LOCAL GAME & SMOKED HAMS
Food Ideas
….
Spring 2016
VAT on hot food
HMRC are consulting on changing the rules on hot takeaway
food to ensure that all food (with the exception of freshly
baked bread) that is above ambient air temperature when
provided to the customer is standard rated.
What you pay VAT on
VAT is a tax on consumer spending, which is automatically
added to the goods you buy in shops and the services you pur-
chase. The tax is charged on a huge range of items – from
clothes, gadgets and big-ticket electrical items to meals in res-
taurants. The vast majority of the things you pay for will be
subject to VAT at the standard rate. This is currently 20%.
However, the rules around VAT are devilishly difficult to un-
derstand. Not all purchases or transactions are subject to VAT,
while others have VAT applied to them at a reduced rate.
Cold take-away food is zero-rated for VAT, while hot take-away food
is subject to standard-rate VAT
Nuts in their shells are zero-rated for VAT, while shelled, roasted or
salted nuts are subject to VAT at the standard rate
Potato crisps are subject to standard-rate VAT, but maize and
corn-based snacks, such as tortilla chips, are zero-rated
Frozen foods are zero-rated, yet ice-cream and frozen yogurt are
subject to standard-rate VAT.
Jason Hawkins-Row, founder of Suffolk-based Aponic is
heading to Kenya after receiving an invitation from parlia-
mentary officials to install his vertical soilless growing sys-
tems on two state-owned farms.
The invite follows a recent reception at the country’s High
Commission in London, and the proposed partnership will see
him help create an education programme for Kenyan farmers
to help them take advantage of the technology.
The Aponic systems mean that huge yields of herbs, salad
crops, fruit and vegetables can be grown using little water
and carbon, with the potential of revolutionising farming
techniques in countries where resources are stretched.
Meanwhile, officials from South Africa, Egypt, India, and
Pakistan as well as the Falkland Islands, have also expressed
an interest in adopting the systems which the firm was able
to develop commercially after receiving funding from
Agri-Tech East.
Mr Hawkins-Row said: “They are quite determined and want
to put this into Kenya in a fairly large fashion. I can’t get out
there fast enough for them. We will set up an initial site on
two farms in Nairobi and once that’s established we will go
out there and run courses. We will create a university course
for the local farmers to learn about it.” The Green 100 firm
has also received interest closer to home in the technology
and is working on a project with Nottingham University as well
as with a Yorkshire firm looking at pop-up farms.