VAT
We report on VAT policy and its implications for the UK foodservice and hospitality sector, including rate changes, government decisions, lobbying campaigns, and compliance challenges. From reduced VAT measures during the pandemic to the sector’s push for permanent reform, this brings together essential updates that affect margins, pricing, and profitability. Whether you’re a small independent or a multi-site operator, understanding VAT is critical to managing costs and planning for sustainable growth. Our coverage is written to support chefs, operators, F&B leaders, and finance teams navigating a complex and evolving tax landscape.
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May- 2019 -14 MayRestaurants
Restaurant owner used stolen VAT money to pay school fees
The owner of a Surrey restaurant who used stolen VAT money to pay her children’s school fees has been jailed. Huey Jun Khoo, along with her business partner Jing Fu, used an off-the-record card machine at the Bon East Chinese restaurant in Farnham to pocket £180,000 in VAT over four…
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Apr- 2019 -30 AprilAnalysis
How making tax digital is changing accounting for caterers
Making Tax Digital (MTD), which went live for VAT-registered businesses on 1 April 2019, is a new HMRC scheme that means businesses that are affected now have to use accounting software to maintain their records. Its advent is set to have a transformative impact on caterers and small-to-medium-sized catering businesses…
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Feb- 2019 -4 FebruaryGovernment
Brothers jailed 14 years for £3m pub and restaurant tax scam
Three brothers, who stole £3m in a tax scam involving pubs and restaurants, have been jailed and banned from being directors for 28 years. Bournemouth brothers Shahab Hashtroudi, 64, Shahin Hashtroudi, 58 and Hedayat Hashtroudi, 68, ran pubs and restaurants in Hampshire, Dorset and Surrey, using the money to prop…
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Jan- 2019 -18 JanuaryNews
Hampshire Michelin star restaurant up for sale
The JSW restaurant in Petersfield, Hampshire, has been brought to market by leisure property specialist Fleurets. JSW has been owned and operated by chef patron Jake Saul Watkins for 18 years, 15 of which it has held a Michelin star status. This Grade II listed property is a 17th Century…
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Dec- 2018 -21 DecemberGovernment
Chinese restaurant owner’s £1m tax fraud goes to pot
A Chinese restaurant owner, who stole more than £1m in tax by claiming his business “made pottery” and had a “tiny turnover”, has been jailed for three years. Chin Seong Lam, 60, from Barnet, north London, owned outlets at the O2 Arena in North Greenwich and at Gun Wharf Quays…
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Nov- 2018 -19 NovemberRestaurants
Restaurant bosses jailed for £800k fraud
Four Black Country fraudsters who ran a chain of upmarket Indian restaurants have been handed jail sentences totalling 10 years for an £800,000 fraud that saw them pocket staff tips and hide sales to evade tax. Mohammed Sharif Uddin, 48, Mizanur Rahman, 44, Sadiqur Rahman, 45, all of Wednesbury, along…
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Aug- 2018 -7 AugustBeverages
CAMRA: ‘Pub closures are making us all poorer’
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has said that UK pub closures are “making us all poorer” claiming that four out of five people in the UK have experienced a local pub closure in the last five years. As many as 80% of British people have witnessed at least one…
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7 AugustBeverages
Majority of Brits find the price of a pint ‘unaffordable’
Some 56% of people in Britain think the price of a pint of beer in a pub is unaffordable, according to new research by YouGov and Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). Pub pint prices have seen an increase, with a third of the cost of a pint now made up…
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2 AugustFeatures
Cutting a bigger slice of cake: growth in the catering industry
The catering industry is thriving in the UK. According to data from IBISWorld – a specialist in business information and market research – revenue for the catering services market sits at £1bn and it has experienced an annual growth of 1% since 2013, with a current workforce of approximately 28,600.…
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1 AugustAwards & Events
Wetherspoon’s to cut all prices by 7.5% for ‘Tax Equality Day’
Wetherspoons has announced it is to cut all of its prices by 7.5% on Wednesday 20 September as part of ‘Tax Equality Day’. The day aims to highlight the benefits of reducing VAT in the hospitality industry. Pubs are currently charged 20% VAT, compared with supermarkets which benefit from zero-rate…
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