Seán Ó Fearghaíl
Question:4. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Finance if he will abolish the level of VAT levied on student textbooks accessed via tablet computer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54720/12]
View answerWednesday, 5 December 2012
Questions (4)
Written answers
The VAT rating of goods and services is subject to the requirements of EU VAT law with which Irish VAT law must comply. In Ireland the zero rate applies to printed books, including atlases, children’s picture, drawing and colouring books and books of music. It is possible for Ireland to apply the zero rate to printed books because Ireland applied the zero rate to these books on and before 1 January 1991, and the EU VAT Directive provides a derogation for such exceptional VAT treatment to continue to apply. However, the VAT Directive does not allow goods and services to apply at the zero rate which were not in place at that rate on 1 January 1991. As student textbooks accessed via tablet computers were not applied at the zero rate in 1991 it is not possible to apply the zero rate to them now. Furthermore, under the EU VAT Directive, all digitised publications, regardless of their rate when printed (for example, a book liable at zero rate), are treated as the supply of a service liable at the standard rate of VAT, which in Ireland is 23%. E-books, online newspaper subscriptions and online information services purchased via download over the Internet are also considered the supply of services liable for VAT at the standard rate. There is no option under EU VAT law to exempt from VAT student textbooks accessed via tablet computers, or to apply a reduced rate to them.