Irish supreme court has ruled that subway bread is not ‘real bread’

The Supreme Court of Ireland has ruled that bread sold by Subway, a fast food chain, contains a lot of sugar. The court rejected the franchise company’s appeal regarding the tax, stating that it could not be legally defined as bread.

The ruling comes in the wake of a tax dispute filed by BookFinder Limited, an Irish subway franchise. The company argued that the value-added tax was not applicable to certain takeaway products, including tea, coffee and heated sandwiches.

Bread sold by the subway contains a lot of sugar. The panel of judges therefore ruled that the appeal could not be allowed.

Subway bread served on heated sandwiches contains 10% sugar by weight of flour. Therefore, the judgment states that there is no dispute that it exceeds the specified 2%. Bread, the staple food, is different from other confectionery and fancy baked goods – the verdict says.

BookFinder have filed an appeal against a 2006 decision by the authorities to refund value-added tax payments. The lower court had earlier dismissed the appeal.