[pdurrant]

This is a very limited ruling, and doesn't really affect non-physical ebooks at all.

I haven't heard anything about the case against France and Luxembourg yet. That's a vital case, as if the court rule against the commission, EU Member states will be able to charge ebooks at the same rate as paper books.

The other big tax change coming up (in just three months!) is that from 1st January 2015, VAT on ebooks (and other things, but I'm concerned here with ebooks) will have to be charged based on the location of the purchaser, not the supplier.

Amazon currently sells ebooks in the EU 'from' Luxembourg, and so only has to charge 3% VAT. From 1st January 2015, they will have to charge the VAT rate based on the customer's location. In the UK, that would mean that VAT on ebooks would rise from 3% to 20%, that is, if the entire rise was passed on, a £5.15 book would rise to £6.00 (numbers chosen for convenience).

Of course, if at the same time EU states were allowed (or required?) to charge the same VAT on ebooks as on paperbooks, a UK consumer would be happy - VAT on books in the UK is 0%!

I really want to hear how the France/Luxembourg case (Case No. 2012/2098) is going, but I haven't found any news.