Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking in response to the amendment to EU VAT directive (2006/112/EC), which gave the UK the flexibility to bring the rate of VAT for e-publications in line with the rate of VAT for their printed equivalents.

The Government keeps all taxes under review, including Value Added Tax (VAT).

Any amendments to the VAT regime as it applies to physical publications and e-publications must be carefully assessed against policy, economic and fiscal considerations. Any representations on this issue will be considered as part of the fiscal events process.