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garygibsonsf · 09-07-2008, 01:16 AM

I had no idea until a few days ago that ebooks sold through businesses located in the UK were required to charge Value Added Tax at 17.5%. Paper books, magazines and newspapers sold in the UK are sold without VAT; but apparently ebooks are placed under the umbrella as other 'digitised products', making them (I assume) legally no different from any other piece of software such as a computer game or word processor.

I have a vague recollection that one of the reasons there is no VAT on books in the UK is that it was felt it would be wrong to tax knowledge; that 'knowledge' in the form of books should be made affordable to all.

Assuming that I have this right, then shouldn't it be the case (obviously I'm directing this at people in the UK, especially ones who aren't nearly as clueless about taxes and the like as I am) that ebooks should also be exempt from VAT, given that they have ISBN's which are, to my knowledge, only applied to books? And does this mean that UK law has failed to keep up with the advent of digital books?

09-07-2008, 01:16 AM	#1
garygibsonsf Addict Posts: 321 Karma: 432192 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite	VAT and books in the UK. I had no idea until a few days ago that ebooks sold through businesses located in the UK were required to charge Value Added Tax at 17.5%. Paper books, magazines and newspapers sold in the UK are sold without VAT; but apparently ebooks are placed under the umbrella as other 'digitised products', making them (I assume) legally no different from any other piece of software such as a computer game or word processor. I have a vague recollection that one of the reasons there is no VAT on books in the UK is that it was felt it would be wrong to tax knowledge; that 'knowledge' in the form of books should be made affordable to all. Assuming that I have this right, then shouldn't it be the case (obviously I'm directing this at people in the UK, especially ones who aren't nearly as clueless about taxes and the like as I am) that ebooks should also be exempt from VAT, given that they have ISBN's which are, to my knowledge, only applied to books? And does this mean that UK law has failed to keep up with the advent of digital books?