Sent back to the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) by the Court of Appeal last year, the latest one-day hearing has fallen in favour of the appellant, Innovative Bites Limited, makers of a product called Mega Marshmallows.

This follows a string of confusing decisions at various tribunals after HMRC fought hard to prove the case that these products were liable for 20% VAT.

Now the makers of the giant marshmallows can celebrate a win as FTT rules against HMRC, stating the sugary items should be zero rated as the ‘oversized marshmallows are not normally eaten with the fingers’.

This is yet another absurdly expensive VAT food case, with barristers on both sides, and this time involving a dispute over excessively large marshmallows which won the day as they require cooking or roasting on a barbecue or open fire using skewers, and presumably tongs, not by hand alone for various reasons.