The appellant operated a well-known supermarket chain and appealed against a number of assessments as a result of HMRC's decision that the sale of whole cool-down rotisserie chickens was liable to VAT at the standard rate.  The total amount of VAT in issue was £17,034,932. 

The appellant, Morrisons, appealed on two grounds: (1) The supply was zero-rated  pursuant to VATA 1994, Sch 8, Gp 1, item 1 and s 30, as ‘food of a kind used for human consumption’ and was not excluded from zero-rating as a ‘supply in the course of catering’.(2) In the alternative, if the Tribunal did not agree with it on the liability ground, Morrisons argued that HMRC gave clear and unambiguous rulings in 2012-2014 that the chickens were zero-rated.  

HMRC argued that following changes in the,