It's official: Subway's bread cannot be defined as bread, at least in Ireland.

According to Irish Independent, the Irish Supreme Court has ruled that the bread in Subway's sandwiches does not meet the legal definition of bread, as it contains too much sugar.

The bread contained too much sugar to be VAT-free

The ruling came about due to an appeal filed by the Subway franchisee in Ireland, Bookfinders Ltd.

The franchisee wanted bread sold in Subway franchisees to be deemed a staple food, which is exempted from value-added tax (VAT) in Ireland.

However, the five-judge court ruled the bread in Subway's sandwiches outside of that statutory definition, as it has a sugar content of 10 per cent of the weight of the flour in the dough.

The bread needed to have a sugar and fat content of less than 2 per cent of the weight of flour in the dough in order to qualify as staple food.

Case ongoing since 2006

According to BBC, in 2006, Ireland's tax authority refused Bookfinder's request for a refund on VAT payments made between 2004 and 2005.

The franchise filed an appeal, but it was rejected.

It then took the case to the High Court, which it lost, before going to the Court of Appeal, which it also lost.

Now that Ireland's highest court has ruled that its bread cannot be defined as staple food, the franchise's bread will be subjected to a 13.5 per cent tax.

We deliver more stories to you on LinkedIn

Top image via Subway UK & Ireland/FB.