Value Added Tax (General) Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (No. 78)
Fermented milk (commodity code 0403.90.10) is added to both Parts of the First Schedule to the VAT General Regulations, backdated to 9 February 2024 — so sour milk and yoghurt-type products are treated like the other listed basic milk products.
A short amendment with a long reach backwards. Fermented milk, under commodity code 0403.90.10, is inserted into the First Schedule to the Value Added Tax (General) Regulations, 2003 in two places: as a new paragraph (27) in Part I, with effect from 9 February 2024, and into paragraph 7 of Part II after tariff heading 04.02.
The backdating is the point worth noticing. An amendment effective from February 2024 and gazetted in March 2026 reaches transactions that have already happened, so any supplier or importer of fermented milk products who has been accounting for the goods on the other basis has two years of returns to look at.
The instrument states only where the entry goes, not what treatment those Parts confer — Part I and paragraph 7 of Part II of that Schedule have to be read in the principal regulations to see the effect on rate and recovery. Anyone relying on this should confirm the treatment against S.I. 273 of 2003 as it now stands rather than inferring it from the amendment alone.
What changed
- Fermented milk (commodity code 0403.90.10) inserted as paragraph (27) of Part I of the First Schedule, with effect from 9 February 2024
- Fermented milk inserted into paragraph 7 of Part II of the First Schedule after tariff heading 04.02
- The change is backdated by more than two years from the date of gazetting
Who this affects
- dairy processors producing sour milk, maas and drinking yoghurt
- importers of fermented milk products
- retailers and wholesalers stocking fermented milk
- tax advisers reviewing VAT returns back to February 2024
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.