The Tax Appeal Board has ruled in favour of a local meat processing company in a long-standing dispute with the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) over the Value Added Tax (VAT) rating for its chicken-based products.

In a landmrk decision delivered by the board’s chairman Anthony Gafoor and board member Roland Hosein, the tribunal quashed the BIR’s VAT assessments for the period February 2015 to January 2016, concluding the tax authority erred in classifying the products as standard-rated.

In its appeal, Heat N Eat Ltd contended its products were zero-rated for value added tax (VAT) purposes.