Jaffa Cakes#Legal status

McVitie's entire line of Jaffa Cakes are produced at the McVitie's factory in Stockport.{{cite news |title=The factory where life is sweet |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/find-things-to-do/the-factory-where-life-is-sweet-686835 |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=17 April 2012 |access-date=24 July 2013}} The Jaffa Cake production area covers an acre ({{convert|1|acre|sqft m2|disp=output only}}) and includes a production line over a mile ({{convert|1|mile|km|disp=output only}}) long. In the early 2000s, it pioneered the development of advanced machine vision technology for quality control.{{cite book |first1=Mark |last1=Graves |first2=Bruce |last2=Batchelor |title=Machine Vision for the Inspection of Natural Products |url={{GBurl|PXwz4MDCkYsC|403}} |year=2003 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-85233-525-0 |page=403}}{{cite book |last=Davies |first=E. R. |date=2003 |chapter=Design of object location algorithms and their use for food and cereals inspection |title=In Machine Vision for the Inspection of Natural Products |pages=393–420 |publisher=Springer |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/1-85233-853-9_15 |doi=10.1007/1-85233-853-9_15|isbn=1-85233-525-4 }}{{cite journal |last1=Davies |first1=E. R. |last2=Patel |first2=D. |last3=Johnstone |first3=A. I. C. |date=1995 |title=Crucial issues in the design of a real-time contaminant detection system for food products |journal=Real-Time Imaging |volume=1 |issue=6 |pages=397–407 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1077201485710418}}

Although Jaffa Cakes are usually orange flavour, limited edition flavours have been available, such as lemon-and-lime,{{cite web |url=http://snackspot.org.uk/thread.php?story=0601201428sbc |title=McVitie's Jaffa Cakes Lemon and Lime |publisher=Snackspot.org.uk |access-date=22 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726150614/http://snackspot.org.uk/thread.php?story=0601201428sbc |archive-date=26 July 2011 |url-status=dead}} strawberry{{cite web|url=http://www.talkingretail.com/products/product-news/12532-mcvities-launches-limited-edition-strawberry-flavoured-jaffa-cakes.html |title=McVitie's launches limited edition Strawberry-flavoured Jaffa Cakes |publisher=Talkingretail.com |date=27 April 2009 |access-date=22 June 2010}} and blackcurrant.{{cite news|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/2005/12/12/jaffa-cakeover-86908-16474227/ |title=Jaffa Cakeover |work=The Daily Record |date=12 December 2005 |access-date=22 June 2010}} McVities launched limited-edition pineapple flavour Jaffa Cakes in early 2020.{{cite news|url=https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/27/mcvities-launches-new-pineapple-flavour-jaffa-cakes-12132214/|title=McVitie's launches new pineapple flavour Jaffa Cakes |last=Abernethy|first=Laura|date=27 January 2020|work=Metro|access-date=7 March 2020}} In early 2021, McVitie's unveiled the new flavours cherry and passionfruit.{{Cite news |last=Chabo |first=Elena |date=5 January 2021 |title=McVitie's has launched new Jaffa Cake flavours Passionfruit and Cherry |work=Good Housekeeping |url=https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/a35126849/mcvities-jaffa-cake-passionfruit-cherry/ |access-date=2021-01-27}}

In mid 2023, McVitie's launched Raspberry flavour Jaffa Cakes.{{cite news|url=https://www.foodbev.com/news/pladis-launches-new-jaffa-cakes-raspberry-flavour/|title=Pladis launches new Jaffa Cakes raspberry flavour|date=21 October 2023|work=.foodbev.com|access-date=18 August 2023}} In June 2024, McVitie's launched Cola Bottle flavour Jaffa Cakes.

In the United Kingdom, value added tax (VAT) is payable on chocolate-covered biscuits, but not on cakes of any kind.{{Cite journal |last=Percy |first=Anna |date=2019 |title=New Zealand's GST v Exclusions: A Case for the Exclusion of Basic Food and Menstrual Products from Goods and Services Tax in New Zealand |journal=Auckland University Law Review |volume=25 |pages=228-253}}{{cite web |title=Excepted items: Confectionery: The bounds of confectionery, sweets, chocolates, chocolate biscuits, cakes and biscuits: The borderline between cakes and biscuits |url=http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/vfoodmanual/vfood6260.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130417092751/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/vfoodmanual/vfood6260.htm |archive-date=17 April 2013 |access-date=28 April 2013 |work=hmrc.gov.uk}} When VAT was introduced in 1973, Jaffa Cakes were treated as cakes for the purpose of VAT, but this classification was challenged by Inland Revenue in 1991 who argued that Jaffa Cakes should be taxed as chocolate-covered biscuits.

A tribunal was held to decide how Jaffa Cakes should be legally classified for VAT. The presiding judge, Donald Potter, considered the "ordinary meaning" of the word cake, rejecting any consideration of the purpose of VAT legislation in determining what would count as a cake. The court also discounted expert evidence, as it went "beyond the capacity of an ordinary purchaser". Potter concluded that while there is no strict dividing line between cakes and biscuits in ordinary language, and while Jaffa Cakes had characteristics of both cakes and biscuits, they had "sufficient characteristics of cakes to qualify as cakes" and hence to be zero rated for VAT.{{Cite book |last=Hutton |first=Christopher Mark |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Word_Meaning_and_Legal_Interpretation/MiBHEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |title=Word Meaning and Legal Interpretation: An Introductory Guide |date= |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-137-01616-4 |pages=70-73 |language=en}} The ruling was based on the following criteria:

• The product's name was regarded as a minor consideration.
• The ingredients were regarded as similar to those of a cake, producing a thin cake-like mixture rather than the thick dough of a biscuit.
• The product's texture was regarded as being that of a sponge cake.
• The product hardens when stale, in the manner of a cake.
• A substantial part of a Jaffa Cake, in terms of bulk and texture, is sponge.
• In size, a Jaffa Cake is more like a biscuit than a cake.
• The product was generally displayed for sale alongside other biscuits, rather than with cakes.
• The product is presented as a snack and eaten with the fingers, like a biscuit, rather than with a fork as a cake might be. The tribunal also considered that children would eat them in a few mouthfuls, in the manner of a sweet.

According to Christopher Mark Hutton, the decision prioritised the material properties of the Jaffa Cake (its ingredients and composition) over social factors such as its packaging and marketing. Ross Charnock analysed the case as focusing on stereotypical features of cakes rather than comparison to prototypical examples.{{Cite book |last=Charnock |first=Ross |title=Law and Language: Current Legal Issues |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-967366-7 |editor-last=Freeman |editor-first=Michael |volume=15 |chapter=Hart as Contextualist? Theories of Interpretation in Language and the Law |editor-last2=Smith |editor-first2=Fiona}}

The tribunal has been viewed by tax experts as an example of the complexity and market distortions arising from multiple tax levels and the use of ambiguous categories.{{Cite book |last=James |first=Simon R. |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Dictionary_of_Taxation/KY1tr7bdwQsC |title=A Dictionary of Taxation |date=2012 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1-78100-257-5 |page=55 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Lymer |first=Andy |url=https://archive.org/details/taxationpolicypr0000andy_10ed/page/n65/mode/2up |title=Taxation Policy and Practice |last2=Oats |first2=Lynne |last3=Hancock |first3=Dora |date=2003 |publisher=Accounting Education |isbn=0-9545048-0-1 |edition=10th |at=Chapter 3, p. 6}} It has been cited as an example of expensive litigation resulting from different tax rates for similar products.{{Cite journal |last=de la Feria |first=Rita |last2=Walpole |first2=Michael |date=2020 |title=The Impact of Public Perceptions on General Consumption Taxes |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3723750 |journal=British Tax Review |language=en |volume=67 |issue=5 |pages=637-669}}{{Cite journal |last=Zu |first=Yige |date=2017 |title=Reforming VAT Concessions: A Tax Expenditure Analysis |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3074512 |journal=British Tax Review |volume=63 |issue=4 |pages=418-437}} It spawned further legal disputes, in particular Marks & Spencer argued that it should be refunded VAT it paid on its chocolate teacakes.{{Cite book |last=de la Feria |first=Rita |title=La Réorientation Européenne de la TVA à la Suite du Renoncement au Régime Définitif |publisher=Presses de l'Université Toulouse Capitole |year=2012 |isbn=978-2-37928-039-9 |editor-last=Querol |editor-first=Francis |pages=82-110 |chapter=EU VAT rate structure: towards unilateral convergence?}} It has also been used as an example of arbitrary distinctions in tax law and the "absurd tests" that need to be used when there is not an underlying policy purpose or principle to different tax rates.

The debate over classification has aroused interest from philosophers such as Tim Crane who view it as an example of how concepts relate to reality. Crane argues that the classification of Jaffa Cakes is more than a matter of definition, and relates to their essential features, which he agrees are cake-like.{{Cite news |date=2017-02-20 |title=Cake or biscuit? Why Jaffa Cakes excite philosophers |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38985820 |access-date=2025-03-05 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} By contrast, Cristian Constantinescu argues the question is indeterminate,{{Cite journal |last=Constantinescu |first=Cristian |date=2012 |title=Value Incomparability and Indeterminacy |journal=Ethical Theory and Moral Practice |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=57–70 |doi=10.1007/s10677-011-9269-8 |issn=1386-2820}} and Roy Sorensen cites the case as an example of vagueness forcing judges to answer unanswerable questions.{{Cite book |last=Sorensen |first=Roy |title=Vagueness and Law: Philosophical and Legal Perspectives |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-19-878288-9 |editor-last=Keil |editor-first=Geert |pages=297–317 |chapter=How Vagueness Makes Judges Lie |editor-last2=Poscher |editor-first2=Ralf}} Tim Juvshik states that Jaffa Cakes are an "artifact kind" whose classification is a matter of stipulation and social convention.{{Cite journal |last=Juvshik |first=Tim |date=2025 |title=What Makes a Kind an Artifact Kind? |journal=Synthese |language=en |volume=205 |issue=2 |page=66 |doi=10.1007/s11229-025-04914-x |issn=1573-0964}} Others argue that a binary dichotomy is problematic and Jaffa Cakes are neither cake nor biscuit, but something in-between.{{Cite book |last=Abend |first=Gabriel |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Words_and_Distinctions_for_the_Common_Go/KCeqEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |title=Words and Distinctions for the Common Good: Practical Reason in the Logic of Social Science |date= |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2023 |isbn=978-0-691-24707-6 |pages=22-23 |language=en}}

The Irish Revenue Commissioners also regard Jaffa Cakes as cakes, since their moisture content is greater than 12%. As a result, they are charged the reduced rate of VAT (13.5% {{as of|2016|lc=y}}).{{Cite web |url=https://www.revenue.ie/en/vat/vat-rates/search-vat-rates/J/jaffa-cakes-food-and-drink-for-human-consumption-.aspx |title=VAT Rates: Jaffa Cakes |website= Revenue Commissioners |access-date=7 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107030601/https://www.revenue.ie/en/vat/vat-rates/search-vat-rates/J/jaffa-cakes-food-and-drink-for-human-consumption-.aspx |archive-date=7 January 2018}}

In 2021 McVities launched a £4.7 million advertising and social media campaign to promote the brand.{{Cite web|title=Jaffa Cakes reignites an ancient dispute in return to TV|url=https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/jaffa-cakes-reignites-ancient-dispute-return-tv/1708432|access-date=2021-03-24|website=www.campaignlive.co.uk}}{{Cite web|date=2021-02-26 |title=Pladis to push McVitie's Jaffa Cakes with 'Be What You Want To Be' ad campaign|url=https://www.betterretailing.com/uncategorised/pladis-to-push-mcvities-jaffa-cakes-with-be-what-you-want-to-be-ad-campaign/|access-date=2021-03-24 |website=BetterRetailing|language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Briggs|first=Fiona|title=Pladis unveils new TV creative for McVitie's Jaffa Cakes brand |url=https://www.retailtimes.co.uk/pladis-unveils-new-tv-creative-for-mcvities-jaffa-cakes-brand/|access-date=2021-03-24|website=Retail Times|language=en}}

File:Fazer Apple and Cinnamon Jaffa Cakes.jpg]]

File:Bentons Jaffa cakes.jpg ]]

{{redirect|Pim's|the liqueur|Pimm's}}

• Mondelez brand Lefèvre-Utile (LU) produced Jaffa Cakes under the commercial name PiM's. The jam flavours include cherry, orange, pear, raspberry, lemon, chocolate mousse and hazelnuts, etc.{{Cite web|last=Green|first=Denzil|date=2010-08-06|title=Pim's Biscuits|url=https://www.cooksinfo.com/pims-biscuits|access-date=2021-08-27|website=CooksInfo|language=en-US}}
• Delicje Szampańskie are the Polish equivalent and had been manufactured by E. Wedel since 1977.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2011-10-27|title=Kultowe słodycze zniknęły z rynku|trans-title=Iconic sweets have disappeared from the market|url=https://finanse.wp.pl/kultowe-slodycze-zniknely-z-rynku-6114184334280321a|access-date=2021-08-27|website=WP Finanse|language=pl}} {{As of|2020}}, Delicje brand belongs to Mondelēz International, Inc.{{Cite web|last=Przybysz|first=Monika|date=2020-09-10|title=Co wspólnego ma 10 mln pszczół z popularnymi ciastkami? Będziesz zaskoczony odpowiedzią |trans-title=What do 10 million bees have to do with the popular cookies? You will be surprised by the answer|url=https://natemat.pl/319787,delicje-powstaja-z-polskiej-maki-co-to-jest-program-harmony|access-date=2021-08-27|website=naTemat |language=PL-pl}}
• Jaffa Crvenka produces Jaffa Cakes in Serbia.
• Mondelez Czech Republic s.r.o. distributes this type of product under the traditional Slovak chocolate brand Figaro in Czechia and Slovakia with the name "Čoko Piškoty" or čokopiškoty (= chocolate sponge bisquits) in 5 flavour variants.[https://figaro.cz/produkty Produkty], Figaro.cz The names "PiM's" or "Jaffa Cakes" are not very familiar in Czechia and Slovakia, but are also sometimes used. Jaffa Cakes were also distributed by Mondelez under the Czech-Silesian chocolate brand Opavia or German brand Milka.
• In the United States, Aldi sells Jaffa Cakes under its Benton's brand.{{Cite news|title = 15 Delicious New Aldi Foods Spotted in Stores This January|url =https://financebuzz.com/aldi-new-deals-january-2025|newspaper = Finance Buzz|date =11 January 2025}}

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