Teacake controversy 0

Mark Wallace Campaign

I suppose I ought to declare an interest in this story – I not only love lower, simpler taxes, I love chocolate teacakes. Even if I didn’t, though, this would stand out as a ridiculous example of the problems a complex tax system brings.

The very fact that there has been a costly wrangle going on for years about the relative tax status of the chocolate teacake as regards to being a biscuit or a "traditional bakery product" should be a compelling sign that we have an overly complex tax system. The "brief" summary on the BBC web site takes over 160 words and a 2 by 3 tabulated explanation. Unfortunately, it’s not just a laughable tale about a tasty product, it’s been a very costly saga for all involved – consumers, Marks and Spencer’s and the taxpayer.

One interesting thing to note is that the headline is "Teacake set to cost taxman £3.5m". This is utterly wrong – this judgement won’t cost the taxman a penny. He will continue to receive his wages and unjustified performance bonuses regardless. The only people who have lost out in this are you and I – people who were wrongly charged tax when they bought teacakes and who have footed the bill for HMRC’s lengthy legal defence which they bizarrely continued on dubious grounds against M&S even after they had repaid supermarkets.

If we had a simple tax code – and tax officials who didn’t view taxpayers’ money as rightfully theirs to cling onto and splash about on lawyers on their every whim – none of this would have needed to happen, taxpayers wouldn’t have had to foot a massive legal bill and, most importantly, we could all have enjoyed cheaper chocolate teacakes.