Ebooks vat petition

Follow us. Supported by. Who is affected? Readers with disabilities. Post not marked as liked. Over Authors call for an end to the unfair tax on digital readers. Publishers believe ebooks and print books should be treated the same when it comes to VAT, as both deliver the same "educational, cultural and social benefits". They say that "urgent action" is required to reduce ebook VAT rates as the digital market experiences a rapid pace of development and sales that "continue to grow exponentially".

The call from publishers comes as over 5, people have signed a petition to the Treasury asking for VAT on ebooks to be abolished, saying that "a book should be defined by what it provides, not the material that is used to produce it, and the more environmentally friendly version should be encouraged and not discouraged by VAT". Paper books need oil based inks and glues, high energy use for paper production and printing, oil fuel for distribution and large land use for warehousing.

At the end of their lives many find their way to landfill. E-books are far more environmentally friendly using a tiny fraction of the energy of a paper book for production, distribution and storage and at the end its life it is simply deleted. A book should be defined by what it provides not the material that is used to produce it and the more environmentally friendly version should be encouraged and not discouraged by VAT.