A quick correction! Books are zero rated for VAT in Ireland but not newspapers and magazines. Thus Ireland and the UK stand alone in the EU in not charging VAT on books. It's been the same for the past 25 years, but for how long more we can stand out against the harmonising functionnaires in Brussels and their allies in Whitehall and Dublin, is anybody's guess, despite political promises.

How the heck is any legislation meant to differentiate between "ring-tone", music, audio-book, and numerous other digital downloads.

The "spoken word" cd's are all VAT rated, why should similar digital downloads be any different.

As a retailer, I fear that the publishers have gone too far into mugging away books as a disposable (often valueless) item - with some of their full SOR deals with the supermarkets and mega-sellers - and believe that it is only a matter of time before they become a vatable commodity. Of course, I will vigorously petition for status quo to remain but that is another matter.

thats nice

Ah the conundrum that is VAT on online content! Much as I approve of the zero-rate on books, it does produce some odd results in the world of electronic publsihing. It makes it difficult to come up with new pricing options for bundled online and print products, and indeed sometimes encourages publishers not to offer online-only options. It also produces the odd situation where an eBook can be more expensive to the end user, even though the publisher has no distribution or printing costs. This does not help to encourage user uptake of eBooks in the UK.

Could the legislation not dictate that if the content is the same as something that is zero-rated in hard copy, and it is just the delivery method that is different, then the online version would also be zero-rated? Or perhaps I'm being naive...

if you allow some views from a nearly insider (to the Brussels scene)

Poland also has a zero rate (at least for the moment) and the Polish publishers will be fighting to keep it as long as the British and Irish do.

The trouble is that for the tax people in Brussels who cannot dictate but suggest as the final decision is with the Member States and the Council will has the sole right to adopt taxation changes and this needs to be done unanimously, these people beleive that you can achieve the same effect than low taxes by subsidising the industry.

we have been pleading and will remain doing so that we prefer low (or ideally zero) tax than subsidies than can be used as censorship by the goverment. Certainly the publishers from new Member States who have experienced years of govermentally-led publishing can better explain to Brussels eurocrats what negative impact such policies may have!

The Commission has started a long ride towards standard rates (which does not mean harmonised, which would be mission impossible as all Member States have to agree unanimously to one single rate), we need to resist, commiting politics, demonstrating the importance of low (or zero) taxes on reading and education.

Again we need to demonstrate the importance of books to society and the key role of publishers in making books 'happen'.

it will be a long struggle but we need to fight it and we will need publishers to fight it with us!