In July 2008, in the London High Court, P&G lawyers successfully argued that Pringles were not crisps even though labelled "Potato Crisps" on the container (in Britain what are known as "chips" in the US are known as "crisps") as the potato content was only 42% and their shape, P&G stated, "is not found in nature". This ruling, against a United Kingdom value added tax (VAT) and Duties Tribunal decision to the contrary, exempted Pringles from the then 17.5% VAT for potato crisps and potato-derived snacks. In May 2009, the Court of Appeal reversed the earlier decision. A spokesman for P&G stated it had been paying the VAT proactively and owed no back taxes.
