[Pajamaman]

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-...eporting-story

Tweets from Publishers:

·
Mar 11, 2020
Abolition of online news tax is a massive victory for News UK, who have been campaigning on this for years.

Brilliant news for finances of Times/FT/Telegraph and anyone with hard paywall.

If they keep the cost to consumer the same, that's a £20m boost to News UK.

The Publisher's Association tweeted:

We are delighted that the government has announced plans to #AxeTheReadingTax and zero-rate VAT on digital books and journals. It’s fantastic that @RishiSunak has acknowledged the huge value of reading and will bring an end to this illogical and unfair tax. #Budget2020

I'll bet they are delighted. Saving passed onto consumers? $Nul points. In fact it is minus points. Prices appear to have gone up. It should be called #AxeTheReadingTax; it's #AxeTheBookSellingTax.

Here's one from The Times several months after the VAT cut. It's behind a pay wall, but appears to blaming Amazon for ebook price increases after the VAT cut.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/v...rice-rsj0ndg2p

VAT ends ... but Kindle ebooks go up in price
The tax was removed in an attempt to boost sales, but readers are now paying more for many Amazon titles

The horror! The Times btw is making $$$ from the VAT cut, which they lobbied for

Now we know why the mainstream media hasn't mentioned how VAT savings weren't passed onto consumers. They planned it all, and pocketed the lot, which was obvious from the start.

The government's statement behind the VAT cut is...interesting:

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak states in the official announcement: “We want to make it as easy as possible for people across the UK to get hold of the books they want whilst they are staying at home and saving lives. That is why we have fast tracked plans to scrap VAT on all e-publications, which will make it cheaper for publishers to sell their books, magazines and newspapers.”

But no mention of cheaper prices So the consumer got screwed, royally.

What is interesting is that it was a stitch up, as the British say, right from the start. The VAT cut was lobbied for by corporations who now are profiting from it; who are not passing on any savings to consumers; and who are blaming Amazon because e-book prices have gone up. Brilliantly machiveliean.

To add twists to the plot, the UK government were in on it, and made it appear that they were doing consumers a favor, which was never their intention, as evidenced by their official statement.

Finally, and the most psychologically fascinating of all, some consumers support this scam