Who was in the wrong - bakery or me?

[Doijb]

I take my kids to a bakery after swimming. Most of the time they choose sausage rolls or similar. There is a tiny table with two chairs. I plop one of my kids on my lap and we eat our treat. I prefer this as otherwise the flakes would go everywhere.

Anyway, after going every week to this place for a year one of the staff members tells me we’re not really a sit down food place. I inquire about the chairs and she said it’s more for people who wait.

I just found this odd. My kids are brilliantly behaved and I make sure not loud. My oldest will wipe down the table with a serviette.

Who is being weird?

If someone told me I had been sitting in an area not meant for customers every week for year, I would be embarrassed, not trying to make out the bakery were in the wrong and/or weird for pointing it out to me.

Why would you be embarrassed though? Surely it’s entirely the fault of the bakery that this has been going on every week for a year? They could have picked any one of the previous 51 weeks to tell her.

They are a business and allowed to have their own policies.

Of course they are - but it shouldn’t be a guessing game. If you have a policy, why not share it instead of letting someone break it for a year?

If anything is eaten ON the premises, hot or cold, then it's standard rated for VAT as it becomes a supply of catering, not a supply of food.

If something is cooked/baked to order in order to eat hot, it's standard rated for VAT, whether eaten in or out.

If something "has to be cooked/baked" but once cooked is not kept artificially warm by putting under a heat lamp or in a warm cabinet, then it's zero rated if eaten off the premises, regardless of how "hot" it is when served.

So your bread, roast chicken, pies, etc., will be zero rated IF eaten off the premises AND if they were cooked because they had to be cooked - i.e. no one would want an uncooked load of bread or an uncooked pie, A cooked roast chicken is slightly different as, of course, people do buy uncooked chickens, but then intention comes into it, i.e. you can still buy a cooked chicken and not eat it straight away - you can take it home and eat it once it's cooled. So a cooked roast chicken will be zero rated as long as it's not eaten on the premises etc.

Who said tax doesn't have to be taxing!

@taxguru I know.

Yes, they’ve let it go in the past because it’s just once a week but there’s either been a complaint, or head office, or council have had a word so they’re letting OP know now.

nobody’s been weird or done anything wrong.

*typo

I wouldn't be at all embarrassed. I'd wonder why the hell no one had mentioned it for the last year. They could have even added a sign if they didn't want to address it directly. So bizarre.

And let me put it simply for you. I’m not suggesting OP WAS going to do anything. It’s a statement of a fact and not loaded, so I’m not sure why you are getting defensive on her behalf. She’s been told not to do something, therefore it follows that she should not do something.
If the speed limit is 30, you should not exceed 30. That is not me accusing anyone of intending to speed. It’s just a fact.

But why do you keep repeating it when there has been no suggestion that the OP will have otherwise?

That about covers it!

I get pastry crumbs everywhere when I exceed 30mph.

If I saw a table and chairs in this situation, I'd sit there.
If they are for a specific group, there should be a label on the table.

I think this whole thread encapsulates is why I avoid places that are not 100% crystal clear in how they operate. I don't want to spend money on food, then settle down to eat with two small kids in tow only to be told I've got it wrong, the table in the place serving food was not actually for the people buying food, and have the embarrassment and hassle of rounding everyone up and moving along with my half eaten sausage role.

Or HMRC; they are breaking the VAT rules.

That’s a little unfair- pretty sure the OP would have noticed if someone elderly or disabled was waiting and needed a seat…

Your allowed to eat in at the 'chain bakery' as they charge VAT on their products for the privilege of eating in. (That's why they now ask you are you taking away or eating in). The bakery won't be charging you the VAT

I would too. Otherwise there would just be chairs for waiting and no table!

It’s a weird thread, so now you’ve got your answer I wouldn’t be arguing with someone who took the time to explain it to you.