Quote:
Originally Posted by rem736
what tax is this? it doesn't sound like a sales tax, which should be standard across all items sold by retailers.
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Yes, it's VAT. Taxes on traditional books are often waived (culture and all that), or at least reduced, but since ebooks are considered an "electronic service" they are not.
Yes, this is idiotic. That said, "deep discounts on digital books relative to print books" are by no means forbidden, it's just that the publishers would have to set them: While it's illegal to sell books below publisher-set retail prices, there's nothing keeping publishers from setting prices for ebooks significantly lower than hardcover or paperback editions. They just prefer not to.