The tribunal came down against HMRC, ruling that fast food meal deals are not automatically single standard-rated supplies, finding cold dipping pots of sauce can be treated individually in terms of VAT rate as a separate zero rated supply rather than a composite standard rated supply in a bundled meal.

The appeal against HMRC was brought by Queenscourt Limited against an original decision at the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) in June 2024. This followed a dispute with the tax team at KFC franchiser Queenscourt about a VAT refund for a total of £106,438 for three tax years from 2015 onwards.

Typically, hot food from a fast-food restaurant is standard rated, while cold food, such as coleslaw and cookies are zero-rated. The argument in this case centred around the dipping pots which come with KFC meal deals, such as the supercharger dip.