Subway Bread isn’t Bread, says Ireland’s Supreme Court

LONDON, KOMPAS.com - Subway bread is not bread due to its high levels of sugar, ruled Ireland’s Supreme Court.

Bread sold by the fast-food chain contains so much sugar that it cannot be legally defined as bread.

Ireland’s Subway franchise, brought by Bookfinders Ltd., is now on course to pay value-added tax for its bread products.

The ruling over whether Subway bread is bread or not stemmed from a tax dispute in which Bookfinders Ltd. argued that some of its takeaway products — including teas, coffees, and heated sandwiches — were not liable for value-added tax.

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With the appeal rejected by a panel of judges Tuesday, the clear-cut decision is made in that the fast-food chain’s bread is not a “staple food” meaning the company is liable to tax over its baked goods.

“There is no dispute that the bread supplied by Subway in its heated sandwiches has a sugar content of 10 precent of the weight of the flour included in the dough, and thus exceeds the 2 percent specified,” the judgment read.

The law makes a distinction between “bread as a staple food” and other baked goods “which are, or approach, confectionery or fancy baked goods”, the judgment said.

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Subway disagreed with the characterization in a statement.

“Subway’s bread is, of course, bread,” the company said in an email.

“We have been baking fresh bread in our restaurants for more than three decades and our guests return each day for sandwiches made on bread that smells as good as it tastes.”

Bookfinders was appealing a 2006 decision by authorities who refused to refund value-added tax payments. Lower courts had dismissed the case before it reached the Supreme Court.

Subway said it was reviewing the latest tax ruling. It added that the decision was based on an outdated bread exemption set by the Irish government that was updated in 2012. 

(Writer & Editor: The Associated Press) 

Source: https://apnews.com/article/ireland-archive-courts-63bc4788c0912d9546218f0f08239f03