Cable television supplier, NTL, has won a lengthy court battle to have elements of its service charged at the lower rate of VAT. The decision could have significant implications for State coffers as today's Supreme Court ruling may also apply to utilities such as Eircom, ESB and Bord Gais.
The Revenue Commissioners have been fighting NTL's claim that under EU law the supply of cable connections should be charged at the lower VAT rate.
They had argued NTL should pay the higher 21 per cent VAT rate on connections and the supply of television and radio signals.
But in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court found that a ruling by the Appeal Commissioners in 1989 should be upheld in relation to the issue.
In that case, cable TV supplier Cablelink's - which was later bought over by NTL - successfully argued its connections were, under VAT legislation, "immovable goods" and their maintenance and repair were subject to a lower VAT rate.
Revenue appealed the ruling to the High Court which also upheld the Appeals Commissioner's decision.
The State is now certain to lose significant VAT revenues in relation to cable TV but if the ruling applies to utilities then the losses will be considerably larger.