Andrew Needham looks at the zero-rating for books and publications and the recent extension to e-publications.
When the UK joined the EU in 1973 it fought hard to obtain the zero-rating of books; and when the single market was introduced in 1991 the UK had to fight hard to retain the zero-rating.
However, as the EU Commission wanted to harmonise things around the EU it was only retained as a concession and they would not allow the zero-rating to be extended.
VAT and e-books
It was HMRC's position that allowing the zero-rating of e-books would extend the zero-rating provisions and so refused to allow them to be zero-rated. However, many in the trade argued that the word ‘book' in VAT legislation should refer to both physical books and e-books and failing that, both should qualify under the rules for fiscal neutrality as both products
