Denmark Plans to Abolish 25% VAT on Books

When dealing with specific crises or a lack of revenue streams, governments worldwide tend to adjust and amend VAT rules to ensure more revenue for their state budgets. However, the Danish Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt pointed out that Denmark has a rather unique crisis, a “reading crisis”, where fewer children and young people read books regularly. As a solution to this crisis, an amendment to the VAT rules will be proposed.

The VAT Strategy for Books

Since Denmark has one of the highest applicable VAT rates on books worldwide, the Culture Minister plans to propose the complete abolition of VAT on books as part of the strategy to make literature more affordable while also investing in education and libraries.

If adopted, Denmark will abolish its 25% VAT rate on books, making them cheaper, but also reduce tax revenue by approximately DKK 330 million (EUR 44 million) per year. The Minister also pointed out that VAT on books in other Nordic countries is significantly lower than in Denmark. More specifically, VAT on books in Finland is 14%, in Sweden 6% and in Norway, 0%. Additionally, the Minister added, in the UK, books are exempt from VAT.

Apart from removing VAT on books, the government will also implement a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the measure, ensuring that publishers pass on the savings to consumers. Suppose the early results indicate that the measure contributes only to the increase in profits of publishers. In that case, the government may reconsider the policy and make further adjustments to ensure that the measure meets its set objectives.

Conclusion

With the increasing adoption of AI and digital technology, the book market, as well as people's reading habits, are undergoing rapid changes. The Danish Culture Minister emphasized that an increasing number of people, especially young people, struggle with reading, are easily distracted, and often struggle to understand simple texts. In addition to removing VAT on books, the Danish government is exploring other potential solutions to promote the export of Danish literature, such as digitalizing the book market and its impact on authors' earnings.

Source: BBC, The Guardian, Recommendations from the Literature Working Group