{
  "id": 9358785,
  "title": "Collagen business founder loses £3.6bn tax battle",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/collagen-business-founder-loses-3-6bn-tax-battle",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-23T15:16:05.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "City AM",
    "slug": "city-am",
    "url": "https://www.cityam.com/collagen-business-founder-loses-3-6bn-tax-battle/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A collagen company's founder, Tony Sanguinetti, has lost a £3.6 billion tax battle after a judge ruled that his product cannot be classified as food and thus cannot claim VAT exemption. Minerva Research Labs, founded by Sanguinetti in 2009, created its first product, Gold Collagen Pure, in 2011. The founder had imported the first commercial batch of the drink from Japan, finding it difficult to get through customs due to the lack of an equivalent product in the UK. Initially, Minerva paid VAT at the standard rate, as they accepted the customs code provided to them. However, in 2022, Minerva declared that they had paid too much VAT from January 2018 to January 2022, based on the argument that the products should have been zero-rated for VAT as they were food. The Tribunal judge, Anne Redston, found that the main purpose of food is to nourish the body and gave significant weight to the nutritional ingredients provided by the products. Despite this, the Tribunal ultimately rejected Minerva's arguments, emphasizing that a product being edible and having nutritional value does not automatically classify it as food under UK tax law. Sanguinetti criticized the ruling, stating that consumers seeking food with a special function should not be penalized with an extra 20% VAT, while other high-fat, cholesterol, and sugar-containing foods are not penalized. The case highlights the uncertain VAT treatment of wellness products in the UK marketplace, raising important issues with implications beyond Minerva's products.",
  "summary": "The founder of a collagen company has lost a battle over a £3.6bn tax bill after a judge ruled his product could not be classified as food and therefore cannot claim VAT exemption. Tony Sanguinetti founded Minerva Research Labs in London in 2009 after he “became slightly obsessed with finding a way to reverse the [...]",
  "key_points": [
    "Tony Sanguinetti's collagen company loses £3.6bn tax battle",
    "Judge rules collagen product cannot be classified as food for VAT exemption",
    "Minerva Research Labs' Gold Collagen Pure product faces uncertain VAT treatment"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}