ECJ rules against the reduced VAT being applied to e-books

30 March 2017

In a recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling (Case C-390/15) it was stated that e-books are not entitled to the same reduced EU VAT rates as printed books.

In the ruling the ECJ held that having differing rates for the same book, based on the media that it is provided in, was not discriminatory.

Currently only printed books are allowed to benefit from the reduced rate of VAT in the EU, meaning that e-books have the standard rate of VAT applied.

This ruling follows the infringement proceedings that the ECJ took against Luxembourg and France last year for applying the reduced rate to e-books.

LATEST NEWS

Slovakia considers lowering VAT Rates and expanding...

The Slovakian parliament is currently reviewing draft bills that will expand the list of goods eligible for the 5% reduced VAT rate to include additional food...

SEE MORE
VAT news
LATEST NEWS

UPDATE: Philippines implements VAT on e-services...

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) recently executed implementing regulations (Revenue Regulations 003-2025) which will introduce VAT on digital services...

SEE MORE
VAT news
LATEST NEWS

European Commission grants extension of VAT split...

Despite deviating from Article 226 of Directive 2006/112/EC of the EU VAT Directive, Poland has been allowed to carry on using their VAT split payments regime...

SEE MORE
VAT news

Gated Content

The following email providers are not accepted: gmail, hotmail, yahoo. Please use proper company email.