EU ECOFIN fail to agree on the reduction of VAT on e-Books

28 July 2017

The EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) have failed to reach an agreement on reducing the VAT rate on e-books to match that of printed material.

ECOFIN is an EU council consisting of economic and finance ministers from all EU member states, who are responsible for setting EU polices in three main areas: economic policy, taxation issues and regulation of financial services.

In an ECOFIN meeting held in June 2017, where the reduction of VAT on e-Books was discussed, the Czech Republic representative objected to the measure, raising concerns about potential VAT fraud in the sector and requested a wider review of general digital services VAT treatment.

Currently digital publications are subject to the standard rate of VAT across the EU, while printed publications (offering the same reading content) are normally taxed at reduced rates.

LATEST NEWS

Danish decision on OSS compliance reinforces the...

A recent Danish Tax Appeals Tribunal decision has reinforced the importance of meeting VAT reporting obligations under the EU's One Stop Shop (OSS) regime. In...

SEE MORE
VAT news
LATEST NEWS

Italy extends deadline for recovering Input VAT

Under a new legislative decree issued in August, Italy introduced a positive law for businesses registered for VAT in the country. From 1 January 2027...

SEE MORE
VAT news
LATEST NEWS

Portugal clarifies VAT correction procedures and...

Portugal's Tax Authority has issued new guidance on VAT invoice corrections and introduced updates to the periodic VAT return, reflecting the country's...

SEE MORE
VAT news

Gated Content

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