03 Feb No VAT on ebooks from 1 MAY

The March 2020 Budget presented by Chancellor Rishi Sunak might have been overtaken in all our minds by other events and Government edicts, but it contained one vital fact for authors: ebooks will no longer attract VAT. The 20% tax on ebooks – not to mention online newspapers, magazines and journals – is set to disappear on 1 December 2020. Update: In light of the coronavirus crisis, this has been brought forward and came into effect on 1 May 2020.

This is good news for writers who for a long time have had to set prices of their digital editions higher than they might have liked in order to include VAT. Printed books are already exempt from the tax.

A letter asking for the end of what was seen as an unfair, anti-reading tax was signed by more than 600 authors and presented to Parliament in October.

One piece of bad news, though – the tax exemption will not apply to audiobooks. So far. Fingers crossed – bring it on, Rishi!

For Simone’s chick-lit-with-depth-and-rude-cooking, visit https://www.amazon.co.uk/Look-At-Me-Now-laugh-out-loud-ebook/dp/B07VY9CV92