The price of ebooks looks set to fall after the UK government announced they’re to be exempted from VAT, bringing them into line with their paper counterparts.
While there’s no guarantee that the cost of ebooks will exactly match those of paper versions, the removal of VAT – currently set at 20% – should save users of the Kindle, Kobo and Apple Books stores money on every purchase.
The change in policy, which also covers digital versions of magazines, academic journals and online newspapers, was announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in Wednesday’s budget.
Outlining the Government’s tax and spending plans, Mr Sunak told MPs: “A world-class education will help the next generation to thrive.
“Nothing could be more fundamental to that than reading and yet digital publications are subject to VAT. That can’t be right so today I am abolishing the reading tax.”
The Chancellor confirmed that the change would come into effect “from 1st December”.
Amazon’s Kindle store is the largest seller of ebooks in the UK.
Responding to today’s news, a spokesperson for the retailer told SEENIT: “We welcome the government’s decision.
“We believe that digital books in all formats should have the same VAT arrangement as printed books, in order to make reading more accessible to more people.”