Subway could take its fight to abolish VAT on toasted sandwiches to Parliament, after receiving almost 100,000 signatures on petitions.
The food-to-go sandwich firm, which serves a range of both hot and cold sub sandwiches, has accumulated more than 20,100 signatures on an e-petition on the HM Government website as part of its Toast the Tax campaign.
In addition, the company has managed to secure almost 80,000 signatures on paper petitions in its UK stores.
Subway’s campaign against the toasted sandwich tax could be debated in Parliament should it hit the 100,000 milestone. The company has currently accumulated 99,871 signatures in total.
Its e-petition reads: "Please sign this petition to show your support for the hard-pressed sandwich shop owners who are being unfairly penalised by the Chancellor. The sandwich shop industry, which employs tens of thousands of hard working people and supports thousands of small businesses, is now being placed under threat.
"We are not asking for the government to reverse its recent u-turn but to remove the tax across the board, just as they have done in Europe. We are simply asking for toasted sandwiches to be treated like pasties."
A company spokesperson told British Baker that its case against the toasted sandwich tax was heard at the Upper Tier Tribunal for Tax at the end of July and Subway was awaiting the outcome, which is due to occur in September.
Under new rules, toasted sandwiches would be taxed at the start of October unlike pasties and pies, which avoided 20% VAT back in May.
Should Subway be successful in its fight against the tax, the company would be owed millions of pounds in tax rebate by Revenue and Customs, along with other UK shops, bakeries and cafes.
Read the latest update on VAT and hot food with Nev Clarke, VAT consultant at BDO’s Leisure & Hospitality Team, by clicking here.
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