IT IS made from dough and it is definitely a bread, says the expert from Italy. The Australian Taxation Office, however, reckons it's a cracker, biscuit, wafer, crispbread or pretzel.

The Tax Office has millions riding on its ruling that the Perfetto Mini Ciabatte, an oven-baked ''flat bread'' imported from Italy and sold in supermarkets around Australia, is not really a bread.

Does this look like a biscuit?...Alfred Abbatangelo is taking the Tax Office to court over a ruling on his ciabette's GST status. Credit:Jason South

Crackers, biscuits, wafers and pretzels are liable to the goods and services tax. So are crispbreads, the taxman argues. But bread is not.

In a landmark case in the Federal Court in Melbourne, expert witnesses from Italy and Australia have lined up to say the Tax Office is wrong. During three days of evidence, they broke the Mini Ciabatte - to consider the cracking sound it made - and discussed the subtle differences in cell structure between crackers and flat breads, the flakiness versus the crunch when put to the bite test, and the amount of yeast, oil and protein found in breads and crackers.