Member Countries can apply a Reduced VAT on E-Books: European Council

E-Books - VAT - European Council - Taxscan

2020 will witness a further reduction in VAT on e-books and audio books aligned with physical books. The European Council agreed to allow the member countries to impose a reduced VAT on electronic publications, following the legislation change in EU in October, 2018. Many countries were quick to apply this in 2019 which included Finland, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and Portugal.

Countries planning to apply reduced VAT in 2020:

Country20192020(New rates)
Austria20%10%
Czech Republic21%10%
Germany19%7%
Netherlands21%9%
Spain21%4%

Countries not committed to change their VAT rate on e-books include Latvia and the UK.

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