How publishers lobbied to abolish VAT on ebooks, costing the taxpayer £200m, but kept the benefit for themselves – Tax Policy Associates Ltd
flavoursofopenscience's bookmarks 2023-02-11
Summary:
The UK charged 20% VAT on ebooks until May 2020, when it was abolished following a lobbying campaign by the publishing industry. They claimed that consumers would benefit from lower prices. Our analysis shows that consumers did not in fact benefit from lower prices – publishers retained the VAT saving for themselves, costing the country £200m
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