vat-liability-checker

---
name: vat-liability-checker
description: Works out which VAT rate a dish carries, based on how it is sold rather than what kind of food it is, applying HMRC's own hot-food and eat-in/takeaway tests line by line. It shows which test decided the answer, so a borderline case can be checked, not guessed. Use for every dish before it goes on a till, and whenever the sale method changes.
---

# Which VAT rate this dish actually carries, and the test that decided it

Give this a dish and how it's sold, eat-in, takeaway, or both, and whether it's hot. Get back the VAT rate, the HMRC test that decided it, and the point at which it would flip.

## What it does

1. **Start with the premises test, because it decides everything else.** "You must always charge VAT at the standard rate if you make a supply of food and drink for consumption on the premises" (VAT Notice 709/1, 3.1). Eat-in is standard-rated, full stop; hot/cold only matters for takeaway.
2. **For takeaway, check whether it's hot at the point of sale.** "Standard-rated if the food... is hot at the time that it's provided to the customer" (4.2), and "something is hot if it's at a temperature above 'the ambient air temperature'" (4.3). Cold takeaway is zero-rated "as long as it's not of a type that's always standard-rated" (4.1).
3. **Check the five named tests**; any one true makes it standard-rated: "heated for the purposes of enabling it to be consumed hot"; "heated to order"; "kept hot after being heated"; "provided... in packaging that retains heat"; or "advertised or marketed in a way that indicates that it's supplied hot" (4.2).
4. **Flag the microwave trap.** A customer-accessible microwave makes the supply standard-rated "whether or not you make a charge" (4.5), catching a cold item reheated on-site.
5. **Name the single test that decided the answer**, so if the sale method changes it's obvious which fact to re-check.

## Then it checks

1. The premises question was answered first, separately from hot/cold.
2. For every takeaway dish, each of the five tests was recorded individually, not just a yes/no.
3. The named deciding test matches the facts; a standard-rated dish has at least one true test.
4. Any dish near a customer-accessible microwave or cabinet was checked against that rule.
5. No dish is zero-rated where any one of the five tests is true.

Any check fails: redo once. Failed twice: say what is wrong and stop.

## Rules

- Public information only. Never invent a fact, number or quote, or assume a rate from a dish's name.
- Anything sent in someone's name says whose name it is.
- Never treat this Notice as having force of law in a dispute; a borderline case is for an accountant, not a guess.
- Never zero-rate a dish the business's own marketing describes as hot.
- Working document for the owner to check against their till setup, and their accountant before relying on it for VAT returns. Not tax advice.

## Built from
- HMRC, "Catering, takeaway food (VAT Notice 709/1)", https://www.gov.uk/guidance/catering-takeaway-food-and-vat-notice-7091, published 7 October 2013, updated 8 June 2026, read 4 November 2026: sections 3.1-4.5, every test, behind every step.
- HMRC, "VAT rates", https://www.gov.uk/vat-rates, read 4 November 2026: the standard rate is 20%, since 4 January 2011.

# vat-liability-checker

## You are given
A list of dishes, each with: sale method (`eat-in`, `takeaway`, `both`), whether hot at the point of sale, and for takeaway items, answers to the five named facts: heated to enable hot consumption, heated to order, kept hot after heating, heat-retaining packaging, advertised or marketed as hot. Whether a customer-accessible microwave or heated cabinet sits near any cold item.

## Produce
Write into a `./vat-liability-output/` folder:

1. `vat-determination.csv`: `dish_name`, `sale_method`, `eat_in_present`, `hot_at_point_of_sale`, `test_1_heated_to_enable_hot_consumption`, `test_2_heated_to_order`, `test_3_kept_hot_after_heating`, `test_4_heat_retaining_packaging`, `test_5_advertised_as_hot` (each `yes`/`no`/`n/a`), `any_test_true`, `microwave_provided`, `vat_treatment` (`standard-rated`/`zero-rated`), `deciding_rule` (`eat-in premises rule`, `hot food test 1-5`, `microwave provided rule`, `cold takeaway, no test true`).
2. `borderline-cases.csv`: `dish_name`, `reason_borderline`, `fact_that_would_flip_it`. One row for every `sale_method: both` dish, or where exactly one test is `yes` and depends on a detail that could change without the recipe changing.
3. `gaps.md` - numbered list of: every dish with no `sale_method`; every takeaway dish missing a test answer; every row in `borderline-cases.csv`; any dish with `microwave_provided: yes` but `vat_treatment: zero-rated`, always an error, corrected before output.

## Rules
- Codex applies the named tests and records which decided the outcome. It never infers treatment from a dish's name, and never zero-rates where any test is `yes` or a microwave is provided.
- `eat_in_present` is applied before any hot-food test; eat-in is standard-rated regardless of temperature.
- A dish sold `both` ways is recorded as two logical determinations, never averaged.
- Every `vat_treatment` has exactly one `deciding_rule`, never blank, never more than one.
- British English, GBP, DD Month YYYY dates. No em dashes.
- Every file ends with: this is a working document prepared for the owner to check against their own till and sales setup, and for their accountant to confirm before it is relied on for VAT returns. It is not tax advice.

## Return
The absolute path and row count of each file. For every dish, its VAT treatment and deciding rule. Dishes standard-rated by each of the five tests, and by the premises rule alone. Every borderline dish with the fact that would flip it. Any microwave-provided error found and corrected. The `gaps.md` item count.