Judges rule on Sky box's main duty

Broadcaster Sky yesterday won its legal battle with the taxman over customs duties on imports of its Sky+ box.

The European Court of Justice settled the dispute with HM Revenue and Customs by ruling that the programme decoder should not be subject to 13.9 per cent import duty.

The judges said that, despite its built-in recording function, the Sky+ box was primarily intended to receive television signals, and was therefore exempt from duty.