Poland Tells Publishers: VAT on Books Must Stay
In a disappointment to the Polish book business, the country’s ministry of finance has announced that it will not support a reduced zero-percent value-added tax rate (VAT) rate on books, ebooks, and news media sales because of the ongoing economic impact of the war in Ukraine and the country’s surging inflation.
Poland’s VAT rates currently are set at 5 percent for books, ebooks, and local and regional press outlets, and at 8 percent for national newspapers and magazines.
As is happening in many international markets, Poland is struggling against rapidly rising inflation running at levels unseen in the country for some 25 years. For December 2022, the state-run statistics agency reported an inflation rate of 16.6 percent—down from a reported 17.5 percent in November and below some economists’ forecasts of 16.6 percent. Specialists warn of higher inflation rates ahead in the new year.
For 2022 overall, the nation’s inflation rate stood at 14.4 percent, the highest level since 1997, according to data from the agency.
Amid rapidly rising costs of paper and printing, Poland’s publishers and booksellers had hoped the government would support the sector by lowering the VAT rates which currently are set at 5 percent for books, ebooks, and local and regional press outlets, and at 8 percent for national newspapers and magazines.
Despite calls for these rates to be cut, the industry news medium Press is reporting that the ministry has sent a statement to the associations of book publishers and news organizations, saying that the ministry has ruled out lower VAT rates on grounds that books and news are not among “basic needs for citizens.” Read More…
