Children’s laureate Cressida Cowell and former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq have joined 90 MPs calling on the government to scrap the “reading tax” on ebooks and audiobooks.
Huq, who is now a children’s author, led a delegation to the chancellor of the exchequer Sajid Javid at his Downing Street residence on Thursday to deliver a letter signed by the MPs. In it, they demand the government “end the unfair tax on learning by zero-rating VAT on e-publications”.
Readers currently pay 20% VAT on all digital books, including ebooks and audiobooks. Print books have been zero-rated since VAT was introduced in 1973, “on the general principle of avoiding a tax on knowledge”. Campaigners against the digital book tax argue that it unfairly affects readers living with sight loss and disabilities, who may rely on the technology.
“The government rightly does not apply VAT to printed books, newspapers and magazines, acknowledging the intrinsic value of reading and knowledge and the importance of the accessibility of these materials,” write the MPs, who include former cabinet ministers Penny Mordaunt, David Mundell and Stephen Crabb, and former leader of the House of Commons, Mel Stride. “However, as consumers embrace the benefits of digital technology, more readers are unfairly penalised for the format they favour. This anomaly must end.”
On Thursday, Huq said: “It is fantastic to be in Downing Street to fight to remove the unfair tax on those who need to read digitally. As both an author and a mum I know how important it is for children to grow up reading, regardless of whether this is on paper or screen.”
Cowell, author of the How to Train Your Dragon books, added that “taxing reading makes no sense, especially when it is being felt by those with disabilities and children just starting to understand the joy of reading”.
“I hope the government sees sense and gets rid of the tax as soon as it can,” said Cowell.
Last year, new European legislation cleared the way for the 20% tax on ebooks to be lifted, with France, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Malta and Iceland already announcing plans to lower taxes on digital publications. The UK has yet to announce similar intentions.
The RNIB’s Eleanor Thompson, who joined the Downing Street delegation, said that only around 10% of books were currently available to blind and partially sighted people in a format they could read.
“E-readers and audiobooks allow people with sight loss to enjoy their favourite books just like everybody else and they should not be charged 20% more for this,” she said.