Electronic Publishing: VAT

(asked on 24th February 2020) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for reducing the VAT applied to digital reading materials with a view to supporting reading among children and young people from low-income backgrounds.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Agnew of Oulton
This question was answered on 9th March 2020

The Government keeps all taxes under review, including 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. Representations on this issue are considered as part of the fiscal event process.

The impact on people from low-income backgrounds and on literacy levels of any reduction of VAT on e-publications is likely to depend on commercial decisions about the extent to which any tax saving would lead to price reductions for consumers.

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